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(Continued
from page 2)
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Under the DSHEA, manufacturers
of dietary supplements can make claims about how their products affect
the structure of the body, but not claims that they can cure, treat, diagnose,
or prevent a disease. (6) The current law allows for the commercialization
of herbal supplements without the FDA's rigorous safety and efficacy tests
that are required to be performed on drugs, before they are released to
the public. (6-10) Recent research has demonstrated the lack of regulation
of herbal supplements. Norton recently noted in the New England Journal
of Medicine the presence of raw animal tissues as ingredients in a number
of dietary supplements and their potential risk. (11) Herbal supplements
have been shown to vary widely in their actual dosage. (12) Other recent
evaluations of supplements have indicated that the herb was either missing
from a supplement or found in very small amounts. (13) |
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Potential
harmful interactions between herbs and drugs have been examined. (14) Herbal
products that have been adulterated with prescription drugs have been identified.
(15) Chinese herbal medicinal plants have been shown to contain a high
level of toxic heavy metals, such as lead, zinc, mercury and cobalt and
disturbing reports of toxic herbs being incorrectly identified have occurred.
(16-17)
Lack of regulation for
herbal supplements presents another potential danger, which is contamination
with microorganisms. Surprisingly, only a few surveillance studies have
been conducted to assess this threat. Fungi have been cited as a source
of contamination in some herbal products. Mycotoxins from Aspergillus flavus
were detected in commercial herbal tea samples and medicinal plants. (18)
Penicillium, Rhizopus, Mucor, Cladosporam, and Auerobasidium sp were found
in powdered herbal drug samples. (19) Evidence of human contamination of
herbs has also been reported. The source of a hepatitis
E infection in a Japanese man was determined to be a Chinese herbal
medicine. (20)
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7/23/2002
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