Study Reveals Dietary Supplements Can Lead to 23000 ER Visits Annually

Did you know that your dietary supplements may be killing you slowly? A new study by the federal officials disclosed that adverse effects of dietary supplements can lead you to ER 23000 times in a year! The study was led by experts from CDC (Centre for Disease Control) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was conducted by taking data between 2004 and 2013 looking at 63 emergency departments in this duration. The data also showed that ER visits mainly comprised of individuals aged between 20 and 34, unsupervised children and young adults leading to over 2000 hospitalizations, reports The Hill.

According to this study, dietary supplements pose a much greater health risk and bigger problems related to public wellbeing than anyone has ever realized. Linda Wong, transplant surgeon at Honolulu was baffled by the number of health cases of otherwise healthy people. After ruling out the obvious cases of alcoholism, hepatitis and other overdose, the answer became apparent - over the counter supplements, as per Vox.

As reported by CBC News, the biggest troublemakers in the market are weight loss supplements or products that lead to increased energy that are major contributors to ER visits. These products can cause irregular heart beats, chest pains or other problems that were said to be the main cause of visits to ER among patients aged between 5 and 34. There are also other products such as sexual enhancement and bodybuilding that led to such symptoms and thus ER assistance. At a macro level, the numbers may not be huge but they do pose a health risk to a lot of people. It is better to take advice from your doctor before self-administering these supplements.