1. They are not drugs.
2. They are safe enough to not need regulation.
You are partially right. I didn’t say they were drugs. I said they are in a world of drugs and many times their interaction with drugs can be fatal.
They are safe enough to not need regulation.
And that ‘s one of the problems with supplements, their reaction is not regulted other than the company who makes them needs to guarenttee their safety which they cannot do in many occassion. And try suing a company in North Korea.
And some of the simplest supplements fall into that situation. According to the Cleveland Clinic, vitmin D when its use in healthy people, moves blood levels higher than 100 nanograms per milliliter can trigger extra calcium absorption — and lead to muscle pain, mood disorders, abdominal pain, and kidney stones. It may also raise the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Another one is St. John’s Wort. The Mayo Clinic found 8 percent of cases when St. John’s wort was used between 1993 and 2010, it was administered in dangerous combinations with antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication, statins, the blood-thinning drug warfarin (Coumadin), or oral contraceptives. For example, combining St. John’s wort with an antidepressant can cause serious complications, including a life-threatening increase in the brain chemical serotonin, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
Calcium is essential for a strong skeleton, but as with all nutrients, too much of this mineral may be harmful. As the NIH notes, more than 2,500 mg per day for adults ages 19 to 50, and more than 2,000 mg per day for individuals 51 and over, can lead to problems. With calcium supplements, hardened arteries, or atherosclerosis, and a higher risk of heart disease, are risks according to the Cleveland Clinic.
You might think multivitamins or minerals would be a good supplement. One study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, which examined data from nearly 40,000 women older than 19 who were part of the Iowa Women’s Health Study, found that, on average, women who took supplements had a higher risk of early death than women who didn’t take supplements. Multivitamins did little or nothing to protect against common cancers, cardiovascular disease, or death.
Kava is an herb that in concentrated forms has been used to treat general anxiety disorder with some success. But taking too much kava, or taking it for too long, has been linked to serious liver damage, including hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver failure. (NIH)
There are many more problems. Under DSHEA, Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, FDA is not authorized to approve dietary supplements for safety and effectiveness before they are marketed. In fact, in many cases, firms can lawfully introduce dietary supplements to the market without even notifying FDA. So is it safe if it has not been tested enough to determine that? Check your msds’s and you might be surprised how many entries are left either blank or admit they don’t know about the saftey or interactions. Many have caused death.
wy69