Welcome to Tropical Journal of Medicine and Dental Practice        ISSN: 2756-4908 (print); 2756-4894 (electronic)

News Update

Herbal medicines for COVID-19 discovered

News image

In recent years, many people have taken to using dietary supplements with or without doctor’s prescription. In many health facilities, doctors tend to include some of these supplements in their prescriptions for patients frequently because they want to provide nutrients that may otherwise not be consumed in sufficient quantities in foods by the affected patients. These supplements generallyinclude vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, among other substances. In some countries, eg, United States, the supplements are defined as foods, while elsewhere they may be classified as drugs or other products. As at today, there are more than 50,000 dietary supplements available worldwide and more than half of the United States’ adult population (53% - 55%) consume dietary supplements with most common ones being multivitamins. [1,2].

Dietary supplements are unnecessary if one eats a balanced diet [3]. Many supplements including glucosamine, chondroitin, and omega-3 fatty acids, have been reported to have no beneficial effects [3]. However, there is a scientific evidence to support the fact that supplements of beta-Carotene and Vitamin E increase mortality while other antioxidants, B vitamins, folic acid or minerals and multivitamin supplements fail to decrease mortality, as well as morbidity to major chronic diseases even though, vitamin D supplements may be useful and is recommended in Nordic countries because of the weak sunlight [4-6].

There are indications that dietary supplements may cause harm in several ways, including drug-drug and food drug interactions, over-consumption, particularly of minerals and fat-soluble vitamins which can build up in the body [3,6,7].

References

  1. Park, Madison. "Half of Americans use supplements". CNN. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  2. Grace, Emily. "How to choose the best supplement". Health Beacon. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  3. The Truth Behind the Top 10 Dietary Supplements". Webmd.com. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  4. Guallar E, Stranges S, Mulrow C, Appel LJ, Miller ER (December 2013). "Enough is enough: Stop wasting money on vitamin and mineral supplements". Ann. Intern. Med. (Editorial) 159 (12): 850–1. PMID 24490268.
  5. New Nordic Nutrition Recommendations: Focus on quality and the whole diet, Norden.org 03.10.2013.
  6. Bjelakovic, Goran; Nikolova, Dimitrinka; Gluud, Lise Lotte; Simonetti, Rosa G.; Gluud, Christian (2007). "Mortality in Randomized Trials of Antioxidant Supplements for Primary and Secondary Prevention".JAMA 297 (8): 842–57. doi:10.1001/jama.297.8.842.PMID 17327526
  7. Ermak G., "Modern Science & Future Medicine (second edition)", 164 p., 2013

Last updated: 10 May 2014

Highlights

Herbal medicines for COVID-19 discovered

In recent years, many people have taken to using dietar ..read more

Dietary supplements: How Beneficial?

In recent years, many people have taken to using dietar ..read more

Dietary supplements: How Beneficial?

In recent years, many people have taken to using dietar ..read more

Dietary supplements: How Beneficial?

In recent years, many people have taken to using dietar ..read more