Diet Pills & Plans: Dietary Supplements Cause 23,000 ER Visits Each Year

The market is flooded with many dietary supplements that claim to be natural, organic and safe to use but statistics have shown that 23,000 Americans are hospitalized each year as a result of these supplements. 

A study funded by the federal government has found that thousands of health emergencies are caused by intake of dietary products, usually marketed for energy enhancement and weight loss. 

Time reports that the study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine say that a majority of the relevant cases are young adult patients (28 percent of emergency department visits for supplement-related adverse events) who suffer from a range of incidents that include heart palpitations, chest pains, and choking. 

Scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -- who coauthored the study -- estimated that about 2,154 of the visits resulted in hospitalizations.

"Like anything that we do at CDC, we are trying to identify opportunities for reducing harm," said study author Dr. Andrew Geller, a medical officer in CDC's Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. "People may not realize [supplements] can cause adverse effects."
Further, USA Today reports that about 20% of supplement-related ER visits involved children who were able to ingest the supplements while unsupervised. Typically, supplements are not required to be packed in specific child-resistant containers, except for iron pills.

However, it was also reported that iron supplements - which when taken by children in large doses, can be fatal - which have resistant packaging, remain the second-most common cause of an ER trip for children. 

The FDA has been very active as of late in warning consumers of the possible adverse effects of so-called natural supplements because ingredients in the products often contain prescription drugs, which aren't reflected in the labels, reports NBC News.

The 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) states that vitamins and supplements are exempt from the FDA's pre-marketing review. 

"This is only a limited look at the risk," said director of pharmacy for the University of Rochester Medical Center Curtis Haas (who isn't associated with this particular research). He presses that this is a serious concern because there is not much authority, regulation  or supervision over the products.

Some precautions people can take with it comes dietary supplements should include consultation with doctors before intake as well as disclosing supplement intake to physicians. Similarly, medication should be kept out of reach of children and be mindful of the swallowing capacity and possible choking when it comes to supplement intake, especially for older people.