Many patients assume just because a medication is “natural” it spares them the side effects associated with prescription medications.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. Most natural medications are not regulated, and hence, their side effects are not widely publicized.
In fact, plenty of natural herbs and medications can be harmful. For instance, people taking over the counter liquid potassium for leg cramps without physician supervision can be fatal.
Natural doesn’t necessarily mean safe. Remember that.
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{ 4 comments }
The marketing engine behind natural products never ceases to amaze me. Somehow the supplement industry has successfully branded itself as a “healthy alternative” to pharmaceuticals. No amount of evidence to the contrary seems to convince people. Perception is 9/10 of reality… and placebos are big business.
Because the pharmaceutical companies are driven more by profit margins than actual healthcare benefits for their customers, people feel a certain level of control when they use natural products. Sure, their level of sophistication may limit their understanding of side effects and dangerous reactions but they feel better about that rather than dealing with the high cost creations of big pharma. Their whole system of creating drugs and bringing them to market has created a culture of mistrust and cynicism and many have opted for the natural or holistic approach.
Big Pharma is the only one looking at profit margins? Please, give me a break. Do you know how much money the supplement market brings in??? BILIIONS! And they dont have to pay ANY money for research or safety, thanks to the DSHEA of 1993.
I couldn’t care less about them mostly, because they DONT DO ANYTHING!! There are a few that are possibly harmful, but c’mon. This is NOT an area to warn people about. As long as they use at their own risk. I just dont want a patient blaming me for not warning them that using primrose oil might make their breasts get bigger or something.
I think this message should be broadcast on TV – yes, I know, it is totally unrealistic. Yes, most of the stuff is harmless, but some of these things can interact with drugs people are taking. Instead, every time I turn on a TV in the morning and before I switch channels, I see a very charismatic guy in a suit explaining in totally meaningless – in my ignorant opinion – but very scientific-sounding sentences how some natural “cure” (of everything) works. I don’t normally watch long enough to figure out what the “cure” is, but I heard the word “detoxification” a few times.
I remember back around 1993 stopping by natural foods store – they had my favorite bread – and they had a free magazine I picked up out of curiosity. In it they specifically wrote about DSHEA. They presented it like a good thing and a victory for consumers. This was the first time I saw the article, but the first thing that came to mind was “how is it a good thing that they don’t have to show it is safe? isn’t it important?”. Oh, no, I am not a doctor, this just seemed like a common sense question to me.
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