Supplements are now a part and parcel of our regular life, many of us use supplements due to various reasons. According to some insiders, once the supplement industry was a $32 billion industry, which is expected to grow even further. Supplements that include, vitamins, minerals, and different herbs can help us to get better health. However, do we really need external supplement supply and above all, are they safe? So, let’s take a moment and check out if supplements are really safe for our health.
Like every drug, supplements also come with health risks and side effects. However, the sellers aren’t required to do any research about its side effects and above all most of the supplements are self-prescribed without any input from a registered medical practitioner. All these together, increases the risk factor.
Over exposure to supplements like vitamins, herbs, botanicals and health powders were responsible for more than 1000,000 calls to the US poison control center in 2013. Among all of them, around 8000 patients were treated in various health care facilities, while more than 1,000 were reported to have moderate to severe outcome. However, most of the affected people never call a poison center or the supplement manufacturer, which eventually means we don’t ever get the real number of affected person. Supplements related to weight loss, energy, sexual enhancement, heart health, bodybuilding, sleep, etc are the main dietary supplements that can lead you to the emergency department if consumed more than prescribed.
However, if used properly supplements can help to reduce some discomfort caused by some medications or can even make a person feel better by improving the quality of life. Some of the dietary supplements can be used as a way of lowering cholesterol levels. So, one can say most of the people can take dietary supplements within guidelines, but taking it without any proper guidelines can harm a person to a very severe extent.
One must have a word with the physician before consuming any kind of supplements, as people with kidney or liver disease or diabetes or children under 18 or pregnant women should avoid taking certain supplements. Researchers have also studied that excess consumption of supplements can lead to heart failure, Huntington’s disease, and Neuromuscular disorders. Some of the dietary supplements can increase the risk of bleeding if taken before or after a surgery, it can also affect the response time to anesthesia, and sometimes, supplements can react with prescribed drugs, that might create a problem.
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