Astragalus herb use

Stage2ire

hi all

Does anyone know if the herb astragalus is safe to take during chemo.....Halaven.

Thanks

MelissaDallas

From Memorial Sloan Kettering’s herb reference:

• Immunosuppressants: Theoretically, astragalus may antagonize the effects of immunosuppressants such as tacrolimus and cyclosporine.
• Hormonal therapies: Astragalus and its constituents have estrogenic (23) (50) properties and may interfere with their actions.
• Anticoagulants: In vitro studies suggest that astragalus and its constituents have anticoagulant properties (52), which may increase bleeding risk when used with these drugs.
• Diuretics: In a small study, astragalus was shown to have natriuretic effects (8) and may therefore have additive effects with these medications.
• Antihypertensive drugs: Astragalus extract can lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and may have additive effects with other antihypertensive drugs (38).
• P-glycoprotein substrates: Astragalus polysaccharides can inhibit P-glycoprotein efflux pump function. This may increase the cytotoxicity of chemotherapy drugs, including doxorubicin, etoposide, and vincristine (58).
• Gemcitabine: Pretreatment with an astragalus extract was found to affect pharmacokinetics of gemcitabine in a murine model. Clinical relevance is not known (63).

https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/astragalus

Stage2ire

thanks for this

Does this mean it makes the chemo MORE toxic to the cancer cells? Or just to our own bodies?

Does this herb have an impact on white blood cells does anyone know?