Unregulated Supplements Can Harm Your Heart
In honor of American Heart Month, we’d like to remind you that ‘natural’ supplements are sometimes unregulated, and unless you verify the source as a safe one, may contain undeclared drugs that can damage your heart.
In honor of American Heart Month, we'd like to remind you that 'natural' supplements are sometimes unregulated, and unless you verify the source as a safe one, may contain undeclared drugs that can damage your heart.
As recently as 2013, the FDA found diclofenac sodium, an NSAID only legally available by prescription, in a "natural" arthritis remedy called Reumofan, and anabolic steroids in vitamins sold by a company called Purity First. People who took Reumofan suffered "fatalities, stroke, severe bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract…dizziness, insomnia…high blood sugar levels, problems with liver and kidney functions and corticosteroid withdrawal syndrome." Consumers who unwittingly took steroids in their vitamins risked stroke, pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis.
Consumers have also suffered heart and circulatory system damage from dangerous, unreported pharmaceuticals in stomach flu remedies and weight loss drugs.
Learn more and help protect your loved ones by downloading and sharing Be Heart Smart.