The husband of a woman left permanently brain damaged after taking popular ashwagandha supplements has issued a stark warning against using the wellness favourite.
Lois Kinder, 44, from Cheshire, suffered deadly liver failure in July, which doctors blamed on gummies she’d been taking over the last year containing the Asian herb.
While uncommon, experts say that, in high doses, the compound can damage liver cells.
The disastrous complication resulted in a liver transplant operation. Yet complications during surgery restricted oxygen to Ms Kinder’s brain, resulting in devastating brain damage.
Today, she remains hospitalised in critical care and struggles to communicate. Her movement is restricted to the ‘odd twitch’ of her finger or toe.
‘At this stage, nobody knows what her recovery will look like,’ said Mr Kinder, 44, a cabin crew manager.
Ms Kinder remains in critical care and is unable to walk or communicate fully
‘We don’t know if she will walk again, regain full use of her body, or what level of care she will need in the future.’
Ashwagandha has long been hailed as a natural stress reliever, with celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Kourtney Kardashian among noteworthy fans.
Kourtney Kardashian’s supplement firm Lemme sells a bottle of ‘clinically-tested’ shrub, that she claims is ‘shown to reduce stress and support healthy cortisol (stress hormone).’
However experts have increasingly warned of the potential harm it may cause if taken for prolonged periods, or in high doses.
‘Although rare, there have been reports of liver problems, including severe liver failure, associated with ashwagandha use,’ said Dipa Kamadar, pharmacy expert from Kingston University, in a report for The Conversation.
‘Ashwagandha may stimulate the immune system, potentially causing flare ups for people with autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis and arthritis.’
Ms Kinder began taking the supplement daily in July last year, after becoming enticed by adverts she saw on TikTok.
She was so convinced of its effects, she started selling it to social media followers.
‘She would always say after taking them she felt better and was more relaxed,’ said Mr Kinder.
Roughly a year after she began taking the supplements, Ms Kinder visited her GP for help with nausea and vomiting.
Ollie Kinder has told of the heartbreak of fearing he would lose his wife and mother of his kids
She also noticed jaundice-like symptoms, including her eyes and skin turning yellow.
The doctor ordered a blood test and a liver scan. But within days, her 19-year-old daughter found her unresponsive on the sofa.
‘The paramedics managed to wake her up, but she was confused and couldn’t recognise me or my brother,’ recalled the teenager.
She was then blue-lighted to the Warrington Hospital, and within hours tests found her liver was failing.
Doctors placed her into an induced coma and, three days later, transferred her to the specialist Liver Intensive Care Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
It is one of only a handful of centres in the UK able to perform emergency liver transplants.
Ms Kinder was immediately placed on the urgent transplant list.
After several liver offers that were unfortunately unsuitable, on July 22 a donor liver became available.
However, during the transplant operation, she suffered three cardiac arrests caused by a blood clot blocking the main artery to her lungs.
She was deprived of oxygen for a prolonged period while the surgical and critical care teams fought tirelessly to save her life.
At one point, the family was told to prepare for the worst and that she was unlikely to survive the operation.
But against all odds she survived and woke from a coma on August 13.
‘A number of times we were told we were going to lose her – and then she just defied the odds,’ said Mr Kinder.
It is not clear if Ms Kinder, who awoke from a coma last month, will make a full recovery.
‘Doctors thought she was brain dead, and the days that followed were filled with fear, uncertainty and heartbreak.
‘But by some miracle she woke up.’
The complications she suffered have left her with significant brain damage, and she remains in critical care undergoing intensive neurological rehabilitation every day.
Doctors say that ashwagandha is the ‘main cause’ of Ms Kinder’s liver failure, although this is still being investigated.
‘When the doctors ran tests, one of the first things they asked us was if she was taking pills containing ashwagandha, which they later said they believed had caused the liver problems,’ said Mr Kinder.
‘They said there have only been 70 cases of livers failing following prolonged use of the pills.
‘I want to spread awareness and warn people that even if you think the supplement you are taking is safe, there can still be serious health consequences.’
The family is currently crowdfunding to buy a house and adapt it for Ms Kinder’s specialised needs.
‘The thought of losing my wife, and of our children, Imogen and Jacob, losing their mum is unbearable,’ said Mr Kinder. ‘Watching the person you love fight for their life is something no family can ever prepare for.’
