Be careful with herbal supplements

[Eveloftus]

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A note of caution for those using herbal supplements, they may not have the intended effect, could have side effects and may be contaminated with lead, mercury, cadmium arsenic or pesticides. Herbal supplements are regarded as food products not drugs by the FDA, which is why they are not subject to approval or testing.

[LittlePinkPuss]

A note of caution for those using herbal supplements

A note of caution for those using prescribed drugs:

Legal drugs from the doctor.......kill or maim hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. And millions worldwide.

Accidental death from prescription drugs (even when they are correctly given) is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S – the first three leading causes do certainly NOT include herbal supplements.

So please be careful with prescribed drugs.

Oh yes, and please make sure you buy herbal supplements from a professional naturopath or natural health doctor, rather than off the internet.

Regards

MadCat

[Eveloftus]

I agree!

[LittlePinkPuss]

I agree!

Ha Ha Ha! He He He!

Confusing!

So do you agree with yourself.............................or do you agree with me!?

[Eveloftus]

I agree with both of us! I wasn't trying to disparage herbal supplements, I just wanted to say one has to be careful with them, as one has to be equally wary of prescribed drugs! I am the last person to take prescribed drugs! Have refused to take most drugs recommended by doctors in the past for my psoriasis arthritis or other condition (well I took antibiotics once when I had pneumonia!!)

[elliejay]

When you are talking about herbal supplements do you just mean powdered or dried herbs or are you including tablets like St John's Wort ?
I agree about prescribed meds I take them but wish I didn't !!
Am still looking for the perfect "natural" remedy that would mean I could walk.
Ellie 

[beat-the-p]

Ellie if you get your products through a company such as holland and barrett you should be fine, just buy good brands & you should be fine.

[elliejay]

Thanks beat-the-p
I usually get vits and supplements from Healthspan
I did order some curcumin c3 from Ebay will give it a go
I take a probiotic supplement which has lactobacillus as well as others but was interested to read an article about bifidobacterium infantis which is present in babies and is supposed to help normalize cytokynes and has been shown to help in IBS.
Anyone else come accross this ?
Ellie   

[Lazza]

Ellie, hi.  Align brand probiotics (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login) contains bifidobacterium infantis.  When I first used Align it made me sick with flu-like symptoms for several days, which is a sign of yeasties dying off in my colon.  And my psoriasis flared a bit.  Afterward things calmed down and I will say my psoriasis is now better off overall.  Did it improve my psoriasis substantially?  No.  Do I recommend it?  Yes, but I think it might be best to try other probiotics as well.


_Lazza

[Eveloftus]

Ellie, I'm talking mostly about dried herbs, but also some supplements like gingko, astralagus, kava etc, just because they are natural does not mean they are innocuous and without side effects, and may interact with your prescribed meds, you just have to be careful and aware of the possible side effects for ex if you take gingko you should be aware that it thins your blood and you should stop taking it before having surgery, and you should be aware that recent studies indicate that it may not improve memory after all...

[beat-the-p]

Very good point Eve. anyone with a medical condision p/pa or any other that takes supps should do there research & do it well. I am sure most do but this does need saying, it has been on the news here in the UK in the past...just be careful, know what you are taking (both meds/alts) & any interactions & you will be as safe as you can be there will still be risk though as many of these supps lack sufficient research.

Ellie the Curcumin C3 complex I mentioned to you for example is sold with bioperine to help its bioflavability as curc is not well absorbed. You can also get it without the bioperine but I don't see the point unless you want to add a load of extra black pepper to your food which would have the same effect. If you are on meds the bioperine could effect the bioflavability of your prescribed treatment and make it less well absorbed or more well absorbed depending on the drugs involved so best thing to do as an extra precaution is disscuss any supps you take with your gp & the specialist at the hospital to get their take on things...although to be honest in most situations they will know very little & probably won't have a clue what you are talking about    

[elliejay]

Thanks to all for feedback
I take lots of supplements; vitamins and herbs. I will have a review and see what possible problems there may be although I don't expect to get much advice from GP and pharmacy can only check combinations that have been trialed. As for my rheumy she dosn't believe in any supplements  or change of diet, she says she has never seen a patient who has improved.
I will have a look at the Align product thanks and as I don't have P hopefully it won't be too much of a problem.
The curcumin I ordered is a complex with bioperine.
Seeing rheumy on wednesday to talk about meds. Have stopped leflunomide but still on MTX, I will suggest a short break to get bloods back to relative normal. Not sure if I can give up completely. Knee and back v. bad at the moment.
Had first physio last week, has made things worse even though he hardly did anything but am looking forward to hydrotherapy at end of the month and physio said not to 'rock the boat' by suggesting that I don't want to stay with same rheumy as that would mean long waiting times for both new consultant and consequent physio.
Ellie 

[healthypeal]

MY friend was recently hospitalized for taking herbal remedy without recommendation.
I think it has benefits but the risk is equally high.
Can make an educated decision by weighing the risk against the possible gain
There is no miracle cure anywhere.

[bcjunsan21]

Don’t think that herbal health products and supplements are safer than medicines just because they occur in nature or come from plants. After all, many plants are poisonous! Although herbal products and supplements are advertised as “natural,” they aren’t necessarily natural to the human body. Unlike prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, herbal products and supplements don’t have to be tested to prove they work well and are safe before they’re sold. Also, they may not be pure.

[LittlePinkPuss]

The bottom line is...................there are thousands upon thousands of deaths (or complications/side effects) from prescription drugs......and very few from herbs.

[Eveloftus]

I agree Madcat

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Some statistics according to James A Duke of the above article:

ODDS

98,000-140,000
killed by prescription
pharmaceuticals a year

77,000-88,000
killed by nosocomial infections
(getting tougher and tougher to control)

VS.

50,000 to 125,000
killed by colon cancer a year

Translation: the hospital is twice as likely
to kill as colon cancer

Estimated People Taking Herbs:
100,000,000
People Killed by Herbs: 40

of course you need to know how many people take prescription drugs to compare the 2 incidences (from another source, incidence of deaths from presc. drugs is 7.1 per 100,000, compared to incidence of deaths related to herbal supp. as calculated from above of 0.04 per 100,000)

"Dr. James A. Duke has more than 30 years experience working with the healing power of plants-- from the jungles of Latin America to a distinguished career as a chief ethnobotanist with the US Department of Agriculture. His knowledge and authority are undisputed in the world of herbal science and healing"

[Starburst]

Just goes to show there's no way out of this life alive. 

[Ballisticbrian]

66.8% of statistics are made up anyway.

But just because I like playing Devil's advocate, I will say it's worth bearing in mind that any plant takes up into it's leaves and fruits the chemicals which surround it in the soil. This is what gives you the long list of contaminents in tobacco which you smokers take into your lungs. It also explains why banannas contain a radioactive isotope which (you hope) passes clean through your body. Poor quality contaminated fertilisers are the cause of many contaminents in food products including lead, mercury and arsenic.