Harvard study shows 4 types of dietary supplements pose 'serious' risks



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SThe alleyways of the heights are lined with a combination of legitimate vitamins and poorly regulated products that claim to enhance sexual performance, increase energy, build muscle mass and lose weight. According to new research by T.H. of Harvard University, these noisy statements can pose serious health risks. Chan School of Public Health.

The FDA maintains a database on which consumers can record any injury that may be caused by a supplement. An 11-year analysis of these reports of adverse events was published in The Journal of Adolescent Health showed that dietary supplements for weight loss, energy, sexual function and bodybuilding had particularly poor track records.

By serious medical consequences, I mean hospitalization, disability, visits to emergency rooms and even death. "

Forty percent of reports on these types of supplements were stories of "serious medical consequences," authored of the study Flora Or, Sc.D., a researcher at the Channels School's Strategic Training Initiative in Eating Disorders Prevention, tells the story reverse.

"By serious medical consequences, I mean hospitalization, disability, emergency visits and even death," said Or. "The most important point to remember is that, with regard to vitamins, the supplements sold for weight loss, energy and bodybuilding represent almost three times more risk of serious medical accidents. "

supplements substance unknown
According to FDA records, dietary supplements for bodybuilding, sexual function, and weight loss have shown higher rates of serious side effects.

"Totally inadequate"

Or conducted his analysis of the FDA's reports alongside S. Bryn Austin, Ph.D., social and behavioral epidemiologist at Harvard and lead author of the journal. Together, they found that muscle building supplements, weight loss supplements, and energy supplements had about three times the risk of adverse effects compared to traditional vitamins. Sexual enhancement supplements presented a 2.4 times higher risk than traditional vitamin supplements.

How common is it to take a supplement that makes a flashy demand? Fifty-two percent of Americans say they take dietary supplements in generaland other research has shown that a significant number of teens are also encouraged to use supplements, particularly to increase muscle mass – one of the three at risk group Gold. The 2016 Survey Growing Today published in pediatrics noted that 12% of adolescent boys reported using a muscle building product in the last year.

In this analysis, people aged 18 to 25 years recorded the highest rates of these adverse events, but they also accounted for the highest percentage of users of dietary supplements. Of the 977 statements that concerned only one supplement, 578 involved persons aged 18 to 25 years.

"People should absolutely avoid the supplements sold for weight loss, bodybuilding, sexual function, weight loss, and energy," says Or.

But his results are only part of a bigger picture. Previous work suggests that these supplements are risky because they contain ingredients that are not on the labels – including drugs like sildenafil, more commonly known as Viagra.

muscle building supplements
Muscle strengthening supplements have been associated with 2.7 times more adverse events than vitamins.

In other words, it is not always known what ingredients are present in these types of dietary supplements, which suggests that the regulation of these products is problematic.

Under the DSHEA 1994 Dietary Supplements Act, supplement manufacturers and distributors are responsible for demonstrating that they are effective and safe. Then, once the product is available, the FDA can take action and issue warnings or recalls if reports of adverse events occur.

However, in light of the seriousness of these events, Gold and his co-authors call for the repeal of DSHEA because it only deals with security issues after an anomaly. They describe the regulatory landscape as "totally inadequate" in terms of the risks they expose.

"This law prohibits the FDA from pre-controlling the safety and efficacy of products. Rather, it requires the FDA to rely on an honor system whereby manufacturers are supposed to ensure the safety of their products on the market, "she said. "As you can see, this can be problematic."

supplements

Underreported risks

This system imposes on the consumer the burden of reporting these sometimes serious effects, which these authors used to indicate which types of supplements appear to present the greatest risks. But it also means that we are probably only part of the story. Or said these results "actually show only the top of an iceberg because there is a huge underreporting of these adverse events."

People may not report their side effects to doctors – few people will admit to taking huge amounts of Cobra Sexual Energy, for example. In addition, some doctors may not register these cases with the FDA, she says.

But despite the underreporting of these adverse events, Or finds that there is a tendency to limit the sale of certain types of weight loss supplements to minors. For example, a bill in New York banning the sale of weight loss supplements, such as "flat tummy teas" (which are dietary supplements, is technically dietary) to teens.

But the safest thing at the moment is to keep an eye on any supplement claiming to have a flashy effect. Gold research has also shown that weight loss, sexual function, and muscle building supplements do have an impact, but this may not be the one consumers are hoping for.

Abstract:

Goal: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationship between the categories of supplements and adverse events in children, adolescents, and young adults.

The methods: This is a retrospective observational study using reports of adverse events between January 2004 and April 2015 in the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting Database, in the United States. database of dietary supplements. We quantified the relative risks of serious medical events related to dietary supplements sold for various functions as compared to vitamins in people aged 0 to 25 years. Serious medical events include death, disability, life – threatening events, hospitalization, a visit to the emergency room and / or intervention required to prevent permanent disability.

Results: There were 977 reports of single-item adverse events that affected individuals aged 0 to 25 years over 11 years (50.6% women; age: mean: 1/4 of 16.5 years, standard deviation: 14 to 7.5 years). Supplements sold for bodybuilding (risk ratio [RR] 1/4 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1/4 1,9e4,0), energy (RR 1/4 2,6, 95% CI 1/4 1,9e3,6) and weight loss (RR 1/4 2,6, 95% CI 1/3 4, 1.9e3.4) have been associated with almost three times the risk of serious medical events compared to vitamins.

conclusions: The consumption of dietary supplements sold for weight loss, muscle building and energy involved increased risks of serious medical events compared to vitamins. Proactive regulatory enforcement is needed to reduce access and consumption among children, teens and young adults.

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