Aloe (Dried Leaf Latex) lú huì · 芦荟

Safety. Read this before reading any claim made about aloe. Two regulatory judgements are on record. The United States Food and Drug Administration, in its 2002 final rule on over-the-counter laxative drug products, removed aloe latex and cascara sagrada from the monograph: the agency required safety data that the manufacturers did not supply, so the stimulant-laxative use of aloe is not an accepted over-the-counter use in the United States. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, in 2016, classified non-decolorized whole-leaf extract of Aloe vera as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), on limited evidence; the animal studies behind it used extract of the whole leaf, not the gel. That finding is a reason for caution rather than a proof of harm in people. Beyond that: the latex is a stimulant laxative, with the familiar consequences — cramping, watery evacuation, loss of potassium, and a bowel that comes to depend on it. It is not for daily or long-term use. It must not be used in abdominal pain of unknown cause, suspected obstruction, appendicitis or inflammatory bowel disease. It is classed as contraindicated in pregnancy, in breastfeeding and in children: it is a traditional uterine stimulant, and the anthraquinones pass into breast milk. Topical aloe gel can cause contact dermatitis, and putting gel on a deep or seriously infected wound is the wrong decision. New constipation, or constipation with weight loss or blood, is a reason to be examined rather than to reach for a leaf.