Spike in Harm to Liver Is Tied to Dietary Aids

[Jesus Malverde]

When Christopher Herrera, 17, walked into the emergency room at Texas Children’s Hospital one morning last year, his chest, face and eyes were bright yellow — “almost highlighter yellow,” recalled Dr. Shreena S. Patel, the pediatric resident who treated him.

Christopher, a high school student from Katy, Tex., suffered severe liver damage after using a concentrated green tea extract he bought at a nutrition store as a “fat burning” supplement. The damage was so extensive that he was put on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

“It was terrifying,” he said in an interview. “They kept telling me they had the best surgeons, and they were trying to comfort me. But they were saying that I needed a new liver and that my body could reject it.”

New data suggests that his is not an isolated case. Dietary supplements account for nearly 20 percent of drug-related liver injuries that turn up in hospitals, up from 7 percent a decade ago, according to an analysis by a national network of liver specialists. The research included only the most severe cases of liver damage referred to a representative group of hospitals around the country, and the investigators said they were undercounting the actual number of cases.

While many patients recover once they stop taking the supplements and receive treatment, a few require liver transplants or die because of liver failure. Naïve teenagers are not the only consumers at risk, the researchers said. Many are middle-aged women who turn to dietary supplements that promise to burn fat or speed up weight loss.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/us/spike-in-harm-to-liver-is-tied-to-dietary-aids.html?_r=0

[Harmony Blue]

1. We need better education in schools

and the public about the glucose cycle for example. Or how to burn "fat" without using diet supplements.

[cleanhippie]

4. Regulating the "supplement" industry is a better idea.

No allowing them to make dubious claims like "it burns fat" and other Woo would be the best bet.

[Harmony Blue]

5. Regulaton wil take some time to iron this out

but in the mean time educating the general populace is the best option in the short term.

[cleanhippie]

6. And how do you propose to do that any quicker than better regulation?

[flvegan]

2. What did this person take, and how much of it?

Be specific when trying to scare the populace, please.

[Harmony Blue]

3. If scaring people causes them to think

and re-consider their actions that isn't a bad outcome.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. The article only mentions one product OxyElitePro, and does not state that this is what the kid took

While the overall tone of the article is balanced it's light on naming names, which is unfortunate.

Once this gets condensed from the original and sent to the tabloids it will probably make it sound like drinking cups of green tea is 1!11s dangerous 1!11s.

[Incitatus]

11. Sensationalism does get ratings and that is what the media is genrerally about. nt

[DavidDvorkin]

8. Ah, but the devil is in the details

The kid in the story was taking concentrated green tea extract.

Elswhere in the article, it says:

Dr. Victor Navarro, the chairman of the hepatology division at Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, said that while liver injuries linked to supplements were alarming, he believed that a majority of supplements were generally safe. Most of the liver injuries tracked by a network of medical officials are caused by prescription drugs used to treat things like cancer, diabetes and heart disease, he said.

...


The new research found that many of the products implicated in liver injuries were bodybuilding supplements spiked with unlisted steroids, and herbal pills and powders promising to increase energy and help consumers lose weight.

“There unfortunately are criminals that feel it’s a business opportunity to spike some products and sell them as dietary supplements,” said Duffy MacKay, a spokesman for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a supplement industry trade group. “It’s the fringe of the industry, but as you can see, it is affecting some consumers.” More popular supplements like vitamins, minerals, probiotics and fish oil had not been linked to “patterns of adverse effects,” he said.

[silverweb]

9. Very important details, too!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Thanks for highlighting them.

[djean111]

10. Before the anti-supplement nazis jump in - from the article -

Dr. Victor Navarro, the chairman of the hepatology division at Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, said that while liver injuries linked to supplements were alarming, he believed that a majority of supplements were generally safe. Most of the liver injuries tracked by a network of medical officials are caused by prescription drugs used to treat things like cancer, diabetes and heart disease, he said.

[flvegan]

12. Stop it, we're trying to make folks afraid.

Green tea will kill you. This article proves it. Be afraid.

[djean111]

13. You know, I do accept that concentrated catechins (sp?) from green tea will harm you.

But I find the current turgid torrent of supplement punching kind of bemusing - because I don't think it is having the desired effect on those of us who take a few supplements and find them useful.
I have not taken a prescription for a very very long time, and the last prescription I took was just 600 mg ibuprofin or whatever. The last two things my doctor prescribed listed worse side effects than what was bothering me, so I am on record as not taking them. And now I am fine, anyway.

[d_r]

14. yes it says

in the op that 20% of the drug-related liver damage cases were from supplements.

[Vashta Nerada]

15. Woo is causing liver damage?

What a shock.