Consumer Reports Targets Dangerous Dietary Supplements

[Guest guest]

(I think the secret is how much you have of them. Even tea and coffee can

have adverse effects, because they are diuretics and they can dry out the

skin and make it wrinkly and also the lungs can become dry causing breathing

difficulties.N)

 

Consumer Reports Targets " Dangerous Dietary Supplements "

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USA Today

April 8, 2004

 

If they´re natural, they must be safe, right? Not so, say researchers at

Consumer Reports magazine.

 

In a report in the May issue, the consumer publication found a dozen herbal

supplements - some banned in Asia, Europe and Canada but widely available in

the USA - that may cause cancer, kidney or liver damage and even death.

 

They include:

 

• Aristolochia, linked to kidney failure and cancer.

 

• Yohimbe, linked to heart and respiratory problems.

 

• Bitter orange, similar to ephedra, the banned weight-loss supplement

believed responsible for 155 deaths nationwide.

 

The researchers also cited chaparral, comfrey, germander, kava and scullcap,

all of which are known or likely causes of liver failure; lobella because of

its impact on the heart; and pennyroyal oil because of possible liver,

kidney and nerve damage.

 

Two of these supplements have already been acted on by the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration. Organ/glandular extracts are affected by FDA

restrictions on the use of bovine materials in supplements because of the

risk of mad cow disease.

 

And in March, then-FDA commissioner Mark McClellan warned companies to stop

selling the bodybuilding supplement androstenedione (andro).

 

" A lot of people believe that herbal supplements are safe because they´ve

been used for years in traditional medicine, " says senior editor Nancy

Metcalf. But " when they went looking for problems in China, they found

plenty of them. "

 

The findings highlight the lack of oversight. A 1994 law, the Dietary

Supplement Health and Education Act, has been seen as tying the hands of

regulators because it requires the FDA to allow the sale of any supplement

it cannot prove is unsafe.

 

But a recent report by the National Institutes of Medicine says flat out

that the FDA doesn´t need direct evidence of human harm to stop sales of

dangerous supplements. It´s enough to establish the danger using animal or

test-tube studies, or even with reports of problems from similar products.

 

Manufacturers should be required to report side effects and include a phone

number on packaging for consumers who want to do so, the panel said.

 

Meanwhile, the FDA has sent warning letters to 16 dietary-supplement

distributors found to be making false and misleading claims on the Internet

for weight-loss products. Many claim to block starch, carbohydrates and fat

calories, creating weight loss without any lifestyle changes.

 

Not all supplements are snake oil, Consumer Reports says. It identified

three that show possible benefits and low risks, including saw palmetto for

benign enlarged prostate, glucosamine and chondroitin for arthritis, and

fish oil capsules for heart health.