Bartecchi: For my health, whom or what should I believe?
First of all, you can eliminate sports and entertainment personalities who are well paid for their TV, internet, magazine or newspaper recommendations. Some doctors (Example – Dr. Oz) and alternative medicine prescribers are also suspect. Politicians (Example – Trump and hydroxychloroquine) can also be a problem. So, where do we go for help?
Excellent free information is available from websites sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There are also other excellent sources pf good health information that can be acquired at reasonable cost. These include: Harvard Health Letter, Harvard Heart Letter, and Mayo Clinic Health Letter.
Also, reasonably priced is the Nutrition Action Health Letter published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It is the largest-circulation health newsletter in the country, providing reliable information on nutrition and health subjects while debunking health myths and keeping us updated on supplement problems and new food items. It also keeps us updated on new prescription drugs, exercise, weight loss programs and much more.
Consumer Reports (CR) is an independent, nonprofit organization whose magazine has occasional, useful, health related articles. Though more expensive, the magazine can be found in most libraries. The January 2023 issue has a good article on Supplements.
According to the FDA, a dietary supplement is intended to add to or supplement the diet. It cannot claim to treat, prevent, cure or alleviate the symptoms of a disease, as such would make it a drug. The FDA does not have the authority to approve dietary supplements for safety and effectiveness, as it does with drugs, and thus, the problem. The problem becomes magnified when we learn that over 70% of adults are now taking supplements – this number having increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. That event drove people to seek unproven supplements or drugs to prevent or treat the symptoms of the acute process or the “long COVID”. Many people turn to supplements when they are experiencing a variety of hard-to-treat or undiagnosable problems.
CR’s recent survey found that one-third of Americans say that they believe that supplements have been tested by the FDA for safety and effectiveness, which does not happen before the supplement enters the market.
The CR article mentions several categories for which specific supplements are taken. These categories include: Bolstering Overall Health, Strengthening Immunity, Getting Better Sleep, Improving Memory, Nourishing Skin, Nails or Hair, Boosting Mood, Increasing Physical Strength or Stamina, Losing Weight, or the impression (though unproven) that a vitamin might be needed. Under each of these headings, the suggested supplement is listed along with why it is used. This is followed by the “evidence," if any exists.
Reading through each category and the associated evidence tells one how little, if any, good evidence exists for many of the commonly used supplements. In the evidence section you are often told that the supplement is useful only if a deficiency is documented or your problem is believed to be helped by the supplement if it is recommended by your trusted physician. Also, commonly seen is “more study of the supplement is needed.” The CR article also lists 10 supplements “to always avoid.” The article also has some realistic suggestions for CBD supplement use.
By law, supplements cannot contain drugs, but all kinds of dangerous drugs have been found mixed in with supplements. These unlisted drugs include those that can have strong biological effects which may conflict with a medicine you are taking or a medical condition that you may have, knowingly or unknowingly.
Supplement use appears to increase in people as they age and in those seeking to increase physical strength and stamina. Supplement manufacturers make all kinds of claims in their magazines, online, and on TV advertisements without providing much if any science to support their claims. These products can also prove costly while providing little more than a short term placebo effect.
If you are taking a supplement, be sure to look for the USP (United States Pharmacopeia) certification seal which verifies the identity, quality, strength and purity of the supplement. Don’t rely on terms such as “proprietary blends,” “organic,” “natural,” or “whole foods” labeling. If supplement claims appear too good to be true, they probably are.
Dr. Carl E. Bartecchi, MD, is a Pueblo physician and clinical professor of medicine and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Bartecchi: For my health, whom or what should I believe?
