Study Finds Dietary Supplements May Land You In Hospital

Dietary supplements are said causing 20,000 emergency visits to hospitals every year in the US, claims a new federal study.

The findings further add the riskiest dietary supplements are that of energy-boosting and weight-loss products.

Details of the study are published in the latest issue of New England Journal of Medicine. It writes to ask doctors before opting to take any supplements. Usually it becomes harmful if taken with other medicines, or certain vitamins. In fact high doses are known to be more harmful like vitamin A and beta-carotene for smokers.

Supplement is a growing industry with $32 billion a year and lately it has attracted more scrutiny and also has prompted calls for some stricter regulation of herbal products.

The new study is the first to document extent of injuries due to such dietary supplements. The researchers tracked emergency-room visits over a period of ten years.

More than 3,500 emergency room visits were identified.

The dietary supplements consist of several herbal products, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other nutrition products. Most of those are not tested at all or undergone little tests to support claims.

The worst thing of it is the products do not require the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to sell in open market.