International Research Journal of Education and Technology

In the last several decades, the use of herbal medicines and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has grown a lot around the world. This has led to many people using them at the same time as traditional pharmacotherapy. People often think that herbal products are harmless since they come from nature. However, the bioactive compounds in these products can change the way drugs work in the body and how they affect the body, which can lead to clinically important herb-drug interactions. These interactions usually happen when cytochrome P450 enzymes, P-glycoprotein transporters, enzyme induction or inhibition, or pharmacodynamic processes that impact drug targets are changed. Some herbs that are often linked to this are Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort), Ginkgo biloba, Allium sativum (garlic), Panax ginseng, and Zingiber officinale. These herbs may interact with anticoagulants, immunosuppressants, antidepressants, antiretrovirals, cardiovascular medications, and anticancer treatments. These kinds of interactions can cause toxicity, treatment failure, or bad clinical consequences such hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, cardiovascular problems, and a higher risk of bleeding. Polypharmacy and changes in physiological conditions put vulnerable groups including the elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic disorders at much greater danger. To keep patients safe, healthcare personnel need to do a full assessment of their drug history, talk to them about it, keep an eye on herbal use, and be involved in pharmacovigilance. Despite increasing clinical apprehension, obstacles such as insufficient clinical trials, regulatory discrepancies, underreporting, and inconsistency in herbal formulations endure. Future initiatives ought to emphasize evidence-based prescribing, enhanced regulatory frameworks, AI-driven interaction prediction, and customized medicine methodologies. In general, raising awareness and making it safer to use herbal medicines in clinical practice are both important for reducing risks and getting the best therapeutic results.

Key words: Herb-drug interactions; herbal remedies; toxicity; patient safety; cytochrome P450; pharmacokinetic interactions; pharmacodynamic interactions; complementary and alternative medicine; drug toxicity; pharmacovigilance.