Health Update: Herbal alert

'NATURAL' Chinese herbal remedies for eczema may contain strong and potentially dangerous steroids, dermatologists from Leicester Royal Infirmary have warned. In a letter to the British Medical Journal, they say that one herbal cream prescribed to an eczema sufferer by a Chinese practitioner in Soho, London, was found to contain a steroid - possibly fluocortolone or prednisolone.

Using unlicensed steroids in herbal remedies for eczema may be a widespread practice among Chinese herbalists and needs urgent investigation, they argue.