Spike in Harm to Liver Is Tied to Dietary Aids.

[elleng]

. 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.

“It’s really the Wild West,” said Dr. Herbert L. Bonkovsky, the director of the liver, digestive and metabolic disorders laboratory at Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, N.C. “When people buy these dietary supplements, it’s anybody’s guess as to what they’re getting.” . .

Americans spend an estimated $32 billion on dietary supplements every year, attracted by unproven claims that various pills and powders will help them lose weight, build muscle and fight off everything from colds to chronic illnesses. About half of Americans use dietary supplements, and most of them take more than one product at a time.

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

[Tumbulu]

1. So sad

We need to embrace the larger bodies that our opulent low density food supplies us these days.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. $25 says that far more liver damage is done by Tylenol

Of course, all such damage is unacceptable compared to the benefits.

[Nancy Waterman]

3. you have to search to get the truth

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.

snip

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.

[kysrsoze]

5. Agree - dangerous, untested stuff.

[kysrsoze]

4. Eat nutritional foods, exercise and take aspirin over acetominophen, and you'll be good to go!

It's a simple formula - just have to be willing to live by it.

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. I don't think aspirin is much better.

My blood work just came back with slightly elevated liver enzymes so I started looking into it. I was taking naproxin for my back. But the other drugs listed were all of the OTC pain meds including aspirin.

[newfie11]

6. Went in for a check up

And the doctor sneered because I was taking asprin for arthritis. Asked why wasn't I taking Tylenol or Ibuprofen?
I have a friend that was hospitalized due to liver damage and the asprin works fine for me.
I will not be back to her as she is a major pill pusher for big pharma.