The toxic and harmful ingredients in Chinese medicine include aristolochic acid, aconitine and tretinoin.
1. Aristolochic acid: this belongs to the nitro-phenanthrene organic acid class of compounds, and is a toxic component in the Aristolochiaceae plant, with strong nephrotoxicity and possibly carcinogenic.
2. Aconitine: this is a kind of double ester alkaloid, which is the main toxic ingredient present in plants such as Chuanwu, Caowu, epiphyllum and so on, and it can make the vagus nerve excited and cause damage to the peripheral nerves, and the symptoms of toxicity include cardiac arrhythmia, low blood pressure, fainting and so on.
3. Tretinoin: this ingredient is mainly found in tretinoin, which has the effects of anti-cancer, vasodilatation and lowering of blood pressure, and is clinically used for the prevention of arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis; it is also toxic, and accidental ingestion of it may cause abdominal pain, malignancy, vomiting, and drop in blood pressure, and so on.
The above drugs should be used under the guidance of a Chinese medicine practitioner to avoid the occurrence of malpractice.