Concerns Over Dietary Supplements Raised

ScienceDaily ^ | May 5, 2009

[MetaThought]

As the FDA warns consumers to stop using Hydroxycut products, a new editorial published in the May 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal shows that this FDA warning is not unique.

In the editorial, Gerald Weissmann, M.D. Editor-in-Chief of the journal and Research Professor of Medicine and Director of the Biotechnology Study Center at NYU School of Medicine, examines litigation involving StarCaps dietary supplement weight loss capsules to illustrate regulatory loopholes that make it impossible for the FDA to prevent dangerous substances sold with health claims from reaching the market.

"You don't need to be a pharmacologist to suspect that almost anything that really affects the structure or function of the human body might have an unwanted side effect (a.k.a., toxicity)," Weissmann states. "Indeed, a search in PubMed for 'herbal drugs/toxic effects' finds such 460 articles...These range from hepatotoxicity from herbals and weight-loss supplements in the United States to kidney failure as a result of aristolochia, a Chinese herb used worldwide."

[exist]

From my experience those pills don't work. I've tried a lot of them when I was fat.

Then I was watching boxing and thought, "Wait a minute, whatever they're doing obviously works. I'll just do what they do!" 6 months later and I'm just 10 lbs away from looking really REALLY good naked. My personality still sucks though.

[devere]

Non-prescription substances can be dangerous, and need to be used with caution and common sense.
But prescription drugs, taken as prescribed, are one of the nation’s leading causes of death.
The primary danger of non-prescription substances is to profits of pharmaceutical companies.

[Radagast the Fool]

If any of this crap really worked, there’d be no overweight people.
Just sayin’!

[VictoryGal]

I would hate it if the FDA used this to over-regulate herbal supplements. Don’t tread on my Evening Primrose Oil!

[bigjoesaddle]

bump

[Wage Slave]

Personality ain’t nuthin. It’s looking good that matters. So you’re saying that if I go around smacking folks, I’ll lose weight? Good enough for me.

[HoosierHawk]

As long as you limit your “smacking” to libs only, smack away. : )

[Mr. Jeeves]

Cue Ted Kennedy’s voice: “We need new laws!” :)

[Secret Agent Man]

What I did find was an herb that cuts down on your appetite. I’m not going to tell you what it is in this forum because I don’t want the FDA to decide to ban it because it actually works.

[devere]

“What I did find was an herb that cuts down on your appetite.”

There are several of them. The question is what else does it do to you.

I took an over-the-counter sugar-cane extract, policosanol, and it lowered my cholesterol from 220 to 180. I stopped taking it because it had one of the same side effects as statin drugs.

[Secret Agent Man]

Of course I am not suggesting people just start taking herbs without doing any research on them, or asking people such as doctors with backgrounds in natural medicines about the pros and cons of certain herbs.

But the FDA has a hypocritical record on what it bans and what it allows. One person having a problem with something causing the FDA to want to ban it, versus let’s say birth control or RU-486, or Gardasil, that has permanently damaged or killed many people, they continue to turn a blind eye to.

[truthandlife]

Here we go, turn the supplement industry over to the pharma companies to prescribe. Guess who else does this????

Europe and Europe = socialism

[Phileleutherus Franciscus]

The primary danger of non-prescription substances is to profits of pharmaceutical companies.

Of course, since the supplement companies are not required (and feel no moral compulsion) to report adverse side effects, the danger isn't really quantifiable. Every time you take a "dietary supplement" you are taking your life in your hands. It took 10 years for the FDA to finally get ephedra off the market.

[MetaThought]

Every time you take a "dietary supplement" you are taking your life in your hands. It took 10 years for the FDA to finally get ephedra off the market.

You're not taking your life in your hands any more than say fixing up your own car.

You can't (and shouldn't) rely on the FDA. There's lots of research out there on most supplements. Buyer beware ...

Btw, the supplements industry is a pretty good example of what a truly free market looks like. On the whole most supplements are safe(maybe not always effective). The bad ones are handled appropriately, taken off the markets, and the companies sued.

[Phileleutherus Franciscus]

Btw, the supplements industry is a pretty good example of what a truly free market looks like. On the whole most supplements are safe(maybe not always effective). The bad ones are handled appropriately, taken off the markets, and the companies sued.

Nobody has the authority to order them off the market. Decades and hundreds of deaths is the usual minimum requirement to accomplish it. The sellers of dietary supplements are not morally distinguishable from the pirates of the 18th century Carribean.

[MetaThought]

I believe it took about 10 years from the first reports of adverse reactions to the banning. Not too much worse than the 6 years to get Vioxx pulled from the market. But that’s just how bureaucracy works.

I believe the FDA has gotten better. For example, Hydroxycut was dealt with much quicker.

Well, the pirates’ victims had no choice in the matter. While supplement manufacturers are fulfilling a legitimate demand. That comparison doesn’t make sense.

Why do you dislike dietary supplements anyway ?