Herbal suppliments

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pellicle

Professional Dingbat, Guru and Merkintologist
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while many seem to discuss the benefits of non pharmaceutical therapies as if they are somehow preferable (because they are somehow natural).

Being a classically trained guy I shudder at the lack of controls and lack of known amounts of active compounds (and lack of data unmentioned compounds). The pharmaceutical companies do indeed indulge in jiggery-pokery with stats and studies. However the "herbal" groups have far less onerous requirements.

To to think about that topic I give you this:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-0...plants/7207472
At least six Australians needed organ transplants in the past five years after taking herbal supplements.
Key points:
  • Organ donation data shows six organ transplants have been linked to supplement use
  • The figures relate to cases where doctors were able to identify the probable cause of the illnesses
  • The data does not indicate what kind of herbal supplement caused the organ failure

Data obtained from national organ donation registries shows, since 2011, three liver transplants and three kidney transplants have been given to people who got sick after taking some kind of herbal supplement.
It comes after West Australian man Matthew Whitby spoke to the ABC after losing his liver — most likely as a result of taking a protein powder with green tea extract and a supplement containing garcinia cambogia.


so you may get more than you bargained for ... like organ failure
 
The problem is that many herbal "medicines" are unregulated and can contain all sorts of harmful and fake substances. There have been problems with Chinese herbal "medicines" especially, some containing harmful metals. In the UK there are registered herbal products which means those products comply with quality standards relating to safety and manufacturing (not that I would ever use herbal products but I have a friend who had breast cancer who took them). But there are many fake products around which are unlicensed. Here's a list of banned and restricted herbal ingredients in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...-use/banned-and-restricted-herbal-ingredients
 

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