DANGEROUS TRADOMEDICAL SUPPLEMENTS.                                              Of late certain supplements have emerged as panacea in non operative interventions for the treatment of uterine fibroids. They have gained so much popularity to the extent that affected women see them as only resort for cure. This conclusion is further fanned by the prevalent poor socioeconomic status of the populace. Another factor of note is morbid fear for surgeries and anaesthesia. These 'cures' usually promise to effect a cure within record time. The uterus is mainly muscular structure. Fibroid is a benign tumour of smooth mucles of which the uterus is made of. There are other structures in the body which are composed of smooth muscles. Of note are the the various sections of the gastroentestinal tract. HOW DRUGS WORK. The nature, carriage and functionality of a named drug is governed by its pharmacokynetics and pharmacodynamics. This is a cogent summarization of how drugs work. A medication could exert its action by attacking the membrane of a cell or affecting the active transport through the cell. It could also bypass the membrane or plasmalemma to affect the cytosolic organelles. In.other cases the drug could trangress the membrane and cytoplasm and pierce the nuclear capsule to affect the nuclear crux. HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS. Herbs remain the habingers of the pharmacopuar. Prior to the advent laboratory synthetic medicaments herbs held sware in the war against diseases. Herbs form the ingredients found in our soups, stews and even tea. Coffee is a form of herb. Herbs are drugs in raw states. Herbs often lack adequate dosage regimentations. FIBROID SHRINKING HERBAL PREPARATIONS. The socalled fibroid shrinkers actually have potentials to affect the membranes of the target organs. Since they act on the smooth muscular tumours of the uterus or fibroid they will also act on other smooth muscles of the uterus.They do this by gradually denaturing the surfaces of these tumours. However, since they are smooth muscle specific, they do not differentiate between smooth muscles found in the uterus and elsewhere. To this effect they attack the smooth muscles of the uterus. THE REAL DANGER The real nightmare in these herbage is the fact that they wind up attacking the weaker and more organized smooth muscles of the uterus more than the fibroid themselves. Most cases we encountered during myomectomy showed evident and gross uterine architectural denaturation. Though these herbs soften the tumour but we always meet the uterus in a grotesque state. Studies are yet to be done on their effects on other smooth muscular structures but the conclusion is apparent. When the womb is denatured it will lack the capacity to bear pregnancy. Even when pregnancy is achieved, certain complications like abortion, antepartum haemorrhages, abruptio placenta abound. Should pregnancy be managed till term, premature labours, uterine hypokinesis with prolonged and obstructed labours could superven. Operative procedures might become the resort in such cases. The worse case scenario is the risk of disseminated intravascular coagulation which.caries almost 100% mortality in this country. Herbs are good but they should not be applied in all cases. Fibroid is a hard tumour and trying to whip it with same toxin which affects other delicate structures of the body could be associates with deleterious consequences.