I find this *so* retarded
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free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:41 am

This was published today in the ny times:

Quote:

Essay
Diet Supplements and Safety: Some Disquieting Data

By DAN HURLEY
Published: January 16, 2007

In October 1993, during a Senate hearing on a bill to regulate herbs, vitamins and other dietary supplements on the presumption that they were safe, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, spoke up in their defense. Herbal remedies “have been on the market for centuries,” he said, adding: “In fact, most of these have been on the market for 4,000 years, and the real issue is risk. And there is not much risk in any of these products.”

That benign view was written into the bill when it was passed by both houses the following year. While the law, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, forbade manufacturers to claim that their products “treat, cure or prevent” any disease, it allowed them to make vaguer claims based on a standard that did not require them to do any testing. And it stated that “dietary supplements are safe within a broad range of intake, and safety problems with the supplements are relatively rare.”

But hiding in plain sight, then as now, a national database was steadily accumulating strong evidence that some supplements carry risks of injury and death, and that children may be particularly vulnerable.

Since 1983, the American Association of Poison Control Centers has kept statistics on reports of poisonings for every type of substance, including dietary supplements. That first year, there were 14,006 reports related to the use of vitamins, minerals, essential oils — which are not classified as a dietary supplement but are widely sold in supplement stores for a variety of uses — and homeopathic remedies. Herbs were not categorized that year, because they were rarely used then.

By 2005, the number had grown ninefold: 125,595 incidents were reported related to vitamins, minerals, essential oils, herbs and other supplements. In all, over the 23-year span, the association — a national organization of state and local poison centers — has received more than 1.6 million reports of adverse reactions to such products, including 251,799 that were serious enough to require hospitalization. From 1983 to 2004 there were 230 reported deaths from supplements, with the yearly numbers rising from 4 in 1994, the year the supplement bill passed, to a record 27 in 2005.

The number of deaths may be far higher. In April 2004, the Food and Drug Administration said it had received 260 reports of deaths associated with herbs and other nonvitamin, nonmineral supplements since 1989. But an unpublished study prepared in 2000 for the agency by Dr. Alexander M. Walker, then the chairman of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, concluded: “A best estimate is that less than 1 percent of serious adverse events caused by dietary supplements is reported to the F.D.A. The true proportion may well be smaller by an order of magnitude or more.”

The supplements linked to the most reactions in 2005, according to the poison control centers, were ordinary vitamins, accounting for nearly half of all the reports received that year, 62,446, including 1 death. Minerals were linked to about half as many total reports, 32,098, but that number included 13 deaths. Herbs and other specialty products accounted for still fewer total reports, 23,769, but 13 deaths. Essential oils were linked to 7,282 reports and no deaths.

Among herbs and other specialty products, melatonin and homeopathic products — prepared from minuscule amounts of substances as diverse as salt and snake venom — had the most reports of reactions in 2005. The poison centers received 2,001 reports of reactions to melatonin, marketed as a sleep aid, including 535 hospitalizations and 4 deaths. Homeopathic products, often marketed as being safe because the doses are very low, were linked to 7,049 reactions, including 564 hospitalizations and 2 deaths.

But most other types of herbs and specialty supplements also appear in the annual report. In 2005, the poison centers received 203 reports of adverse reactions to St. John’s wort, including 79 hospitalizations and 1 death. Glucosamine, with or without chondroitin, was linked to 813 adverse reactions, including 108 hospitalizations and 1 death. Echinacea was linked to 483 adverse reactions, including 55 hospitalizations, 1 of them considered life-threatening. Saw palmetto was not listed on the report.

Injuries to children under 6 account for nearly three-quarters of all the reports of adverse reactions to dietary supplements, according to the poison centers. In 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available, 48,604 children suffered reactions to vitamins alone, the ninth-largest category of substances associated with reactions in that age group.

Major medical groups and government agencies do not generally recommend vitamin or mineral supplements for children who are otherwise healthy. But an analysis of the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey, published in the journal Pediatrics in 1997, found that 54 percent of parents of preschool children gave them a vitamin or mineral supplement at least three days a week.

Advocates of the products correctly point out that the poison centers’ figures do not prove a causal link between a product and a reaction and that, in any case, far more people are injured and killed by drugs. Painkillers alone were associated with 283,253 adverse reactions in 2005, according to the poison centers, more than twice as many as with supplements. But only 3.5 percent of those reactions occurred when people took the prescribed amount of painkiller; most were from overdoses, either accidental or intentional. The same was true of asthma drugs (3.6 percent of reactions were associated with the prescribed dose) and cough and cold drugs (3.1 percent).

While reactions to vitamins, minerals and essential oils occurred at similarly low levels when people took the recommended amounts, adverse reactions linked to the recommended levels of herbs, homeopathic products and other dietary supplements accounted for 10.3 percent of all reactions to those products reported to the poison centers — about three times the level seen for most drugs.

Drugs marketed in the United States go through a rigorous F.D.A. approval process to prove that they are effective for a particular indication, with the potential risks balanced against the benefits. While the approval process has come under attack in recent years as unduly favorable to drug companies, it remains among the toughest in the world.

There is no comparable requirement for supplements. Even so, hundreds of millions of tax dollars have been spent since the early 1990s on hundreds of studies to test the possible benefits of supplements. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, established by Congress in 1991 to “investigate and validate unconventional medical practices,” has a 2007 budget of more than $120 million.

Since April 2002, five large randomized trials financed by the center have found no significant benefit for St. John’s wort against major depression, echinacea against the common cold, saw palmetto for enlarged prostate, the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin for arthritis, or black cohosh and other herbs for the hot flashes associated with menopause.

A new source of data on adverse reactions to dietary supplements will soon become available: in December, Congress passed a measure requiring the manufacturers of dietary supplements and over-the-counter drugs to inform the F.D.A. whenever consumers call them with reports of serious adverse events. The bill was signed by President Bush the day after Christmas. It is a welcome acknowledgment that “natural” does not always mean “safe.”

Dan Hurley is the author of the new book “Natural Causes: Death, Lies and Politics in America’s Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry” (Broadway Books), from which this essay is adapted.

Wow, that's some disquieting data! It's as if consumers forgot where to buy their brains! In my opinion, supplements work for most people, different supplements work for different people, and we should all rely on what nature gives us, i.e. health and nutirition, first and foremost, before we turn to dosing ourselves with pharmaceuticals... I mean, I agree to some extent that the lack of regulation in this area can be misleading to the consumer, but when I go to whole foods, I know why I'm buying HA capsules, lavender oil, valerian root, or manuka honey. And I don't go home and pop them all at once.

--avalange

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:56 am

Over here, we have this hanging over our heads...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8126-1516578,00.html

I'm most concerned about the potential lack of availability of calcium, which I have been taking for some time due to a family history of osteoporosis. It's still on the shelves for the moment, but I don't know for how long.

I feel that advice should be widely available regarding the potential dangers of such supplements, but that we should be able to make the choice for ourselves.

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:32 am

The big drug companies dont want us self medicating with herbs, vitamins and minerals from little companies, do they.

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:47 am

The nanny state strikes again!

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:53 am

catski wrote:

The big drug companies dont want us self medicating with herbs, vitamins and minerals from little companies, do they.

I did hear some speculation that the big drug companies would rather we didn't head off potential health problems, so we'd end up falling ill and using their expensive treatments. I know it sounds rather far-fetched, but I'm getting cynical enough to begin to believe it might just be true.

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:30 am

I'm endlessly cynical about money breeding grounds. And Drugs are about money.

Did you see the film, The Constant Gardener, with Ralph Fiennes, abut drug companies testing in Africa, and polishing off anyone threatening to expose the corruption?

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:34 am

majorb wrote:

catski wrote:

The big drug companies dont want us self medicating with herbs, vitamins and minerals from little companies, do they.

I did hear some speculation that the big drug companies would rather we didn't head off potential health problems, so we'd end up falling ill and using their expensive treatments. I know it sounds rather far-fetched, but I'm getting cynical enough to begin to believe it might just be true.

Not far-fetched, at all. These claims have been going on for decades. And, I for one absolutely believe it. I'm 56 years old and am taking NO prescription drugs (supplements only). Never have except for two rounds of antibiotics for ear infections. I'm the healthiest I've ever been. Hubby goes to the doctor regularly, takes a whole arsenal of prescription drugs and is a wreck!

Ari

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:29 am

catski wrote:

I'm endlessly cynical about money breeding grounds. And Drugs are about money.

Did you see the film, The Constant Gardener, with Ralph Fiennes, abut drug companies testing in Africa, and polishing off anyone threatening to expose the corruption?

I haven't seen it yet - it sounds like a true story though, wouldn't surprise me in the slightest!!

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:03 am

catski wrote:

I'm endlessly cynical about money breeding grounds. And Drugs are about money.

Did you see the film, The Constant Gardener, with Ralph Fiennes, abut drug companies testing in Africa, and polishing off anyone threatening to expose the corruption?

I saw that movie. I don't recall though, was it based on a true story?

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:06 am

majorb wrote:

catski wrote:

The big drug companies dont want us self medicating with herbs, vitamins and minerals from little companies, do they.

I did hear some speculation that the big drug companies would rather we didn't head off potential health problems, so we'd end up falling ill and using their expensive treatments. I know it sounds rather far-fetched, but I'm getting cynical enough to begin to believe it might just be true.

I don't think that's far-fetched at all! Unfortunately, for all of us, I believe it's true. Mad

free skin care · Tue Jan 16, 2007 2:09 pm

Im going to be really PO'd if they start restricting the availability of vitamin,herb and mineral suppliments in the US. That would leave us with few options; doctors really dont know squat about them, and most dont believe in them anyway. Just because some irresponsible people dont do enough research before they gulp something down. Sad

free skin care · Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:44 pm

anixia wrote:

Im going to be really PO'd if they start restricting the availability of vitamin,herb and mineral suppliments in the US. That would leave us with few options; doctors really dont know squat about them, and most dont believe in them anyway. Just because some irresponsible people dont do enough research before they gulp something down. Sad

I don't see how they could do that. First, everything is a health risk now days. I think people need to stop stressing themselves (which is perhaps the highest health risk we americans suffer from now days) over whats good and bad...many people have vitamin deficiencies which while most of us can get our essential vitamins through proper diet, some people enjoy taking a one a day pill that'll supply them of their calcium and what not. That's soo important, especially for us women. No way in hell would that pass. It boggles me that people consider this stuff though. jeez.

free skin care · Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:10 am

purpleturtle wrote:

anixia wrote:

Im going to be really PO'd if they start restricting the availability of vitamin,herb and mineral suppliments in the US. That would leave us with few options; doctors really dont know squat about them, and most dont believe in them anyway. Just because some irresponsible people dont do enough research before they gulp something down. Sad

I don't see how they could do that. First, everything is a health risk now days. I think people need to stop stressing themselves (which is perhaps the highest health risk we americans suffer from now days) over whats good and bad...many people have vitamin deficiencies which while most of us can get our essential vitamins through proper diet, some people enjoy taking a one a day pill that'll supply them of their calcium and what not. That's soo important, especially for us women. No way in hell would that pass. It boggles me that people consider this stuff though. jeez.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what the European Union have decided to do to us.

free skin care · Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:13 am

The big pharma lobby is probably the most powerful in the US, and believe me they have their profit $$ as their bottom line, not the health of the consumer. If we're all healthy, they have fewer customers, and that's not paranoia but the truth. This kind of legislation has attempted to pass before and has never gotten through, but I'm sure the lobbyists will keep trying!

Isn't it interesting how I've never seen a supplement with a "may cause death" warning on it, but many legally prescribed drugs do, yet they get past the FDA as 'safe' to use ... amazing!

free skin care · Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:54 am

Chocolat wrote:

Isn't it interesting how I've never seen a supplement with a "may cause death" warning on it, but many legally prescribed drugs do, yet they get past the FDA as 'safe' to use ... amazing!

That statement really tells the whole story, doesn't it?

free skin care · Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:11 pm

Arielle wrote:

majorb wrote:

catski wrote:

The big drug companies dont want us self medicating with herbs, vitamins and minerals from little companies, do they.

I did hear some speculation that the big drug companies would rather we didn't head off potential health problems, so we'd end up falling ill and using their expensive treatments. I know it sounds rather far-fetched, but I'm getting cynical enough to begin to believe it might just be true.

Not far-fetched, at all. These claims have been going on for decades. And, I for one absolutely believe it. I'm 56 years old and am taking NO prescription drugs (supplements only). Never have except for two rounds of antibiotics for ear infections. I'm the healthiest I've ever been. Hubby goes to the doctor regularly, takes a whole arsenal of prescription drugs and is a wreck!

Ari

Ari, you are my role model!

I am a big supplement fan, and have always told myself that I would not just **assume** I would have to take a battery of prescription drugs as I got older (I'm 40 now). So...I love it that you are in your 50s, and staying healthy just via your supplements! Good for you!!

Mary Very Happy

free skin care · Thu Jan 18, 2007 3:19 pm

majorb wrote:

purpleturtle wrote:

anixia wrote:

Im going to be really PO'd if they start restricting the availability of vitamin,herb and mineral suppliments in the US. That would leave us with few options; doctors really dont know squat about them, and most dont believe in them anyway. Just because some irresponsible people dont do enough research before they gulp something down. Sad

I don't see how they could do that. First, everything is a health risk now days. I think people need to stop stressing themselves (which is perhaps the highest health risk we americans suffer from now days) over whats good and bad...many people have vitamin deficiencies which while most of us can get our essential vitamins through proper diet, some people enjoy taking a one a day pill that'll supply them of their calcium and what not. That's soo important, especially for us women. No way in hell would that pass. It boggles me that people consider this stuff though. jeez.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what the European Union have decided to do to us.

Did that pass?

free skin care · Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:55 am

It's supposed to have been passed last summer, as far as I'm aware, but there are still supplies of some of those items in the shops. Whether they've managed to get around it, or whether these are old stock, I don't know.

free skin care · Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:50 am

There's always a lot of talk about the FDA taking over the vitamin/supplement industry here in the States. I'm always afraid that when a story like this comes out, they'll actually do it. I'm sorry that a similar horror has occurred in the EU.

As a free citizen, I value the freedom of choice without a bunch of do-gooder nannygate politicians telling me how to live, what to eat, what to drink, and shaking their fingers at me because I prefer to drive to work rather than mass transit !

In other words, I demand the right to be as stupid as I wish, provided my stupidity doesn't cause harm to anyone else. Laughing

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