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An excellent article from one of my favorite websites for science-based medicine information....
The whole article is highly worth reading, but I cut/pasted some key sections and highlighted them in yellow...
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What’s in your supplement?
Published by Scott Gavura
Science-Based Medicine » What’s in your supplement?
While there is the perception that supplements are effective and inherently safe, there are good reasons to be skeptical. Few supplements are backed by good evidence that show they work as claimed. The risks of supplements are often not well understood. And importantly, the entire process of manufacturing, distributing, and marketing supplements is subject to a completely different set of rules than for drugs. These products may sit on pharmacy shelves, side-by-side with bottles of Tylenol, but they are held to significantly lower safety and efficacy standards. So while the number of products for sale has grown dramatically, so has the challenge to identify supplements that are truly safe and effective.
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One of the more troubling signs that there are serious problems with the supplement market are the continued recalls and warnings from regulators. Just last week, Health Canada warned consumers about the following supplements with unlabelled contaminants (among many others):
Snake Powder Capsule (for rheumatism) – actually contain piroxicam (an anti-inflammatory), dexamethasone (a steroid), hydrochlorothiazine (a diuretic) and cimetidine (used to treat ulcers). No snake though.
Jia Rong Zhuang Gu Tong Bi Jiaonang (for joint pain) – actually contains indomethacin, piroxicam and diclofenac (all anti-inflammatories), prednisone (a steroid), hydrochlorothiazide, metoclopramide, theophylline (used to be used for asthma), trimethoprim (an antibiotic) and phenylbutazone (a now-banned anti-inflammatory which is associated with bone marrow suppression).
Long Ren Tang Fu She Gu Rang Jiao Nang (for joint pain) – actually contains indomethacin, piroxicam, diclofenac, naproxen (yep, four NSAIDs), hydrochlorothiazide, cimetidine, metoclopramide and dipyrimadamole.
Bottom line:
A lowered regulatory bar for supplements and natural health products has been a boon to manufacturers, but the same can’t be said for consumer protection. In the absence of regulation that puts safety ahead of manufacturer interests,
The whole article is highly worth reading, but I cut/pasted some key sections and highlighted them in yellow...
-------------------
What’s in your supplement?
Published by Scott Gavura
Science-Based Medicine » What’s in your supplement?
While there is the perception that supplements are effective and inherently safe, there are good reasons to be skeptical. Few supplements are backed by good evidence that show they work as claimed. The risks of supplements are often not well understood. And importantly, the entire process of manufacturing, distributing, and marketing supplements is subject to a completely different set of rules than for drugs. These products may sit on pharmacy shelves, side-by-side with bottles of Tylenol, but they are held to significantly lower safety and efficacy standards. So while the number of products for sale has grown dramatically, so has the challenge to identify supplements that are truly safe and effective.
......
One of the more troubling signs that there are serious problems with the supplement market are the continued recalls and warnings from regulators. Just last week, Health Canada warned consumers about the following supplements with unlabelled contaminants (among many others):
Snake Powder Capsule (for rheumatism) – actually contain piroxicam (an anti-inflammatory), dexamethasone (a steroid), hydrochlorothiazine (a diuretic) and cimetidine (used to treat ulcers). No snake though.
Jia Rong Zhuang Gu Tong Bi Jiaonang (for joint pain) – actually contains indomethacin, piroxicam and diclofenac (all anti-inflammatories), prednisone (a steroid), hydrochlorothiazide, metoclopramide, theophylline (used to be used for asthma), trimethoprim (an antibiotic) and phenylbutazone (a now-banned anti-inflammatory which is associated with bone marrow suppression).
Long Ren Tang Fu She Gu Rang Jiao Nang (for joint pain) – actually contains indomethacin, piroxicam, diclofenac, naproxen (yep, four NSAIDs), hydrochlorothiazide, cimetidine, metoclopramide and dipyrimadamole.
Bottom line:
A lowered regulatory bar for supplements and natural health products has been a boon to manufacturers, but the same can’t be said for consumer protection. In the absence of regulation that puts safety ahead of manufacturer interests,
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