I was a little miffed upon seeing an email sent out today from a prominent online alternative/natural information publisher. The claim was that : According to the “American Poison Control Centers,” the number of deaths resulted from taking vitamins is ZERO. I am all for natural integrative medicine, herbs, supplements and vitamins but I found that this statement was more than a little irresponsible. Why? This is crucial for you to know…First of all, if one were to look at vitamins alone, then the statistics regard death MIGHT be close to correct, but the email article went on to talk about Japanese knotweed. Herein lies the part of the problem. The general public is not always aware of what is a vitamin vs. a supplement vs. an herbal medication. Even this “authority” is apparently confused. Why is this distinction important and does this mean that vitamins are totally safe? Several VERY important things to think about….
If you read the American Association Poison Control Centers reports, you will indeed find that they do not list vitamins as directly responsible for deaths. However, you will also see that between the vitamins and “plants” categories there were about 120,000 “human exposures”, which means they had to do something like pumping stomachs and other interventions because people were sick from taking the vitamins or herbals. If you assume that some of the “topicals” were “natural” then it may push it over 200,000. What is criminal is that 15,000 “exposures” were in kids <5 years old. Granted that some were likely accidents but one has to wonder if parents were unwittingly giving kids things that they were unaware might make them VERY sick.
The one thing that is not stated here is that all of this may very well be UNDER-reported. Personally, I know that some patients who I operate on bleed so much they require a transfusion and in some cases almost bled to death. Even though it was denied before surgery, upon further discussion with patient or family it was uncovered that they were indeed taking a lot of supplements that can interfere with blood clotting. Other herbals and supplements can interfere with medications given during surgery, and lead to seizures and other really bad events.
Here is a recent study which covers more ground on this topic, related to herbals which are EXTREMELY complex. Many of these are natural drugs folks. They act on the same metabolic pathways as do prescription drugs. Caution has to come with use, and unfortunately due to no regulation, it is not really possible to know what is in all of those preparations. There is a LOT of good, but it comes with a lot of potential risks also. So, caveat emptor and be careful out there. Don’t believe everything you read and KNOW everything that you put into your body, both upsides and downsides.
J Forensic Sci. 2010 Jan;55(1):89-92.
A review of the potential forensic significance of traditional herbal medicines.
Forensic Science SA, Adelaide, Australia. byard.roger@saugov.sa.gov.au
Abstract
Traditional herbal substances may contain highly toxic chemicals and heavy metals, in addition to naturally occurring organic toxins. These substances may cause illness, exacerbate pre-existing ill health or result in death, particularly if taken in excess or in an unusual manner (e.g., injected rather than ingested). Lack of regulation of the content and quality of herbal medicines may result in contamination and adulteration with prescription medications. As there may be no history of the specific use of these products their contribution to death may not be fully appreciated during a standard autopsy. Even when their existence is known or suspected, it may be difficult to identify these substances on standard toxicologic screening. Herbal medicines may also be responsible for a range of symptoms and signs that may confuse the clinical presentation of cases. Given these issues the role of herbal medicines in forensic practice needs to be more clearly defined as deaths may be occurring where herbal medicines have made a significant, but as-yet unrecognized, contribution.
