Supplements send 23,000 American's to the Emergency Room

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  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    How about a regulatory stamp for purity? The regulatory body can charge the vendor price of testing so there is no tax implication.
  • TheDevastator
    TheDevastator Posts: 1,626 Member
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    Azexas wrote: »
    Look at how many die each year from taking prescribed Rx meds if you want to check out one's risk of actually dying from taking stuff that is dangerous to health.

    This thread is not about prescription medications. That is a topic for another thread.

    Well at least vitamins have less side effects than most drugs and actually treat a disease or issue and not just the symptoms.
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
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    Azexas wrote: »
    Look at how many die each year from taking prescribed Rx meds if you want to check out one's risk of actually dying from taking stuff that is dangerous to health.

    This thread is not about prescription medications. That is a topic for another thread.

    Well at least vitamins have less side effects than most drugs and actually treat a disease or issue and not just the symptoms.

    Again, this is not about prescription drugs.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    How about a regulatory stamp for purity? The regulatory body can charge the vendor price of testing so there is no tax implication.
    It already exists - USP Verified Dietary Supplements
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    edited October 2015
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    How about a regulatory stamp for purity? The regulatory body can charge the vendor price of testing so there is no tax implication.

    I think that would be an excellent idea.

    I know of at least one supplement company that sends their products out to an independent testing facility to ensure the products are up to snuff. If I had to take a supplement I would more than likely use one of theirs.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    Azexas wrote: »
    Azexas wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    @stevencloser, the trick with the American 1994 sidestep is that these supplements can go unregulated as long as they make no special claims.

    @brower47 there are many more levels of regulation besides prescription. The manufacturer might be constrained on how they label their product, list the percentage active ingredient, and be fined if they lie.
    Canada has gone the way of licensing "Natural Health Products"

    I believe most European countries require a prescription for supplements also.

    Nope. There are very few supplements that require a prescription here.
    The issues you raise are real (but minor compared to drug drug and drug disease interactions).

    Prescription control is the wrong answer for these products because their utility outweighs the cost/need of having a consultation as the watch dog for them. Clearly physician prescriptions have not eliminated drug drug issues. Improved education and personal responsibility are really, IMHO, the useful limits - you won't reduce the risk to zero - whether it is tobacco, alcohol or supplements people will use and misuse.

    I am not asking for prescription requirements for supplements. I was jus trying to add on to what another poster had said.

    What I am saying is that I believe there needs some better regulations over the companies that do make the supplements so what a consumer is getting what they actually are paying for and better education for people so they don't take things that they don't necessarily need which could prevent harm.

    I understand that - I was commenting on brower's mention of prescription. I completely agree with you on the need for improved regulation - at least the sampling of ingredient veracity. Franky this becomes a more significant issue when we see that the supply chain has really shifted to third part manufacturing in BRIC countries.

    (and I worked for years in the field of Drug Drug Interaction analysis so it is kind of a personal dada.)
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I had a mini-freak-out when my granddaughter (fifteen) casually mentioned that she sometimes drinks a Red Bull for energy. I made her promise to be careful. I felt better when I looked up the actual quantity of caffeine in it. But who can blame young people with a lower risk threshold, seeing apparent acceptance of these products, for giving them a try?
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
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    Azexas wrote: »
    hamlet1222 wrote: »
    I've taken them in the past for months on end and not noticed any changes nor felt any different. Perhaps I'm deficient in something, but how can I find out? I had a forty year health check recently and my tests were all okay, they told me to eat more fruit and vegetables based on the information I'd given them about my diet. Is it worth spending the money on a multivitamin? Or will I be wasting it? I'm undecided on the issue.

    It depends honestly on your diet. IF you are getting a wide variety of fruits, veggies and whole foods you may not be deficient in something. But if you aren't getting those different foods in you could very well be deficient in something. when you are making food, look at the labels and look at the micro nutrition portion to see what you are taking in.

    And herein lies your problem. Most people do not have the time, education or will to analyse their diet on a day to day(or weekly) basis and work out what's missing. It's all well and good to propose this but most people take the path of least resistance when they've got kids, bill and jobs to worry about first.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Azexas wrote: »
    Look at how many die each year from taking prescribed Rx meds if you want to check out one's risk of actually dying from taking stuff that is dangerous to health.

    This thread is not about prescription medications. That is a topic for another thread.

    Well at least vitamins have less side effects than most drugs and actually treat a disease or issue and not just the symptoms.

    Lol. Welcome back.

    What disease is being treated by the general use of vitamin C? Scurvy? I don't think so. Imaginary asymptomatic Vitamin C deficiency?

    Antifungals don't treat disease? lololol
  • Derf_Smeggle
    Derf_Smeggle Posts: 611 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Someone mentioned earlier in this thread regulations of the supplement industry. I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but the FDA issued an updated Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) for Dietary Supplements back in 2007, and I believe again in 2010.

    Companies who want to be certified and label their product as certified cGMP must follow guidelines in manufacturing supplements, herbal formulas, etc. One of those requirements is laboratory testing (independent lab, I believe).

    This is one way to find unadulterated supplements, and supplements that contain what they claim. I am a practicing acupuncturist who uses Chinese herbal medicine in my practice. I only buy from cGMP certified manufacturers to insure we provide what we say we are providing.

    Source: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/ucm238182.htm
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    Most folks ARE deficient.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Thank you for the information, @AnvilHead and @Derf_Smeggle .
  • phxteach
    phxteach Posts: 309 Member
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    And I got very sick from taking a Rx statin drug whereas I have healed because of over the counter QUALITY supplements. Go do generally get what you pay for, and yes... they are doctor recommended brands.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I wonder if any products tested by Schneiderman had the USP label.

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-state-attorneys-herbal-investigation-20150402-story.html
  • TheDevastator
    TheDevastator Posts: 1,626 Member
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    Azexas wrote: »
    Look at how many die each year from taking prescribed Rx meds if you want to check out one's risk of actually dying from taking stuff that is dangerous to health.

    This thread is not about prescription medications. That is a topic for another thread.

    Well at least vitamins have less side effects than most drugs and actually treat a disease or issue and not just the symptoms.

    Lol. Welcome back.

    What disease is being treated by the general use of vitamin C? Scurvy? I don't think so. Imaginary asymptomatic Vitamin C deficiency?

    Antifungals don't treat disease? lololol

    Vitamin C treats Pneumonia in high doses.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I would not trust Vitamin C alone if I had bacterial Pneumonia. I'd take the best antibiotics the doctor had to offer.

    I've also had the Pneumonia vaccine. A natural way to alert my body's defences.
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
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    Azexas wrote: »
    Look at how many die each year from taking prescribed Rx meds if you want to check out one's risk of actually dying from taking stuff that is dangerous to health.

    This thread is not about prescription medications. That is a topic for another thread.

    Well at least vitamins have less side effects than most drugs and actually treat a disease or issue and not just the symptoms.

    Lol. Welcome back.

    What disease is being treated by the general use of vitamin C? Scurvy? I don't think so. Imaginary asymptomatic Vitamin C deficiency?

    Antifungals don't treat disease? lololol

    Vitamin C treats Pneumonia in high doses.

    Source?
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    Azexas wrote: »
    Look at how many die each year from taking prescribed Rx meds if you want to check out one's risk of actually dying from taking stuff that is dangerous to health.

    This thread is not about prescription medications. That is a topic for another thread.

    Well at least vitamins have less side effects than most drugs and actually treat a disease or issue and not just the symptoms.

    Lol. Welcome back.

    What disease is being treated by the general use of vitamin C? Scurvy? I don't think so. Imaginary asymptomatic Vitamin C deficiency?

    Antifungals don't treat disease? lololol

    Vitamin C treats Pneumonia in high doses.

    Not very well. And at those doses vitamin C has risks. It have been associated with multiple adverse effects such as blood clotting, death (heart-related), kidney stones, pro-oxidant effects, etc... so much for less side effects.

    And still doesn't answer "by the general use of vitamin C" which is what this thread is about.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    And 700,000 for adverse reactions to medicines so I don't think that proves anything.

    We had this discussion after our IRB meeting today. Medicines have been proven to be effective for a treatment; supplements have no such testing.
  • TheDevastator
    TheDevastator Posts: 1,626 Member
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    Not very well. And at those doses vitamin C has risks. It have been associated with multiple adverse effects such as blood clotting, death (heart-related), kidney stones, pro-oxidant effects, etc... so much for less side effects.

    And still doesn't answer "by the general use of vitamin C" which is what this thread is about.

    Why have you tried it? Most if not all the side effects are lies by the medical industry. Vitamin C causes kidney stones? wrong.

    General use of vitamin C is for prevention not really a treatment as with most vitamins.