herbal supplements

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Japanese Health Supplement Proved Not That Healthy

Now 5 in Japan are dead, 100 are hospitalized after taking products with benikoji, a red mold

(Newser) - Five people who took Japanese health supplements have died and more than 100 have been hospitalized as of Friday, a week after a pharmaceutical company issued a recall of the products, officials said. Osaka-based Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. came under fire for not going public quickly with problems known internally as...

More Questions Raised in Death of Congressman's Wife

Experts doubt coroner's finding that white mulberry contributed to Lori McClintock's death

(Newser) - Experts are continuing to question a coroner's conclusion that the wife of a congressman died as a result of ingesting the nontoxic white mulberry plant, used for centuries as an herbal remedy and described by one expert as "probably one of the safest leaves in the world."...

Congressman's Wife's Death Tied to Herbal Supplement

Coroner's report links Lori McClintock's death to white mulberry leaf

(Newser) - The death of a California congressman's wife has been attributed to a plant. Lori McClintock, the wife of US Rep. Tom McClintock, died in December 2021, after the Republican discovered his wife unresponsive in their home; she had complained of an upset stomach the day prior. Kaiser Health News...

FDA Issues Strongest Warning Yet on Kratom

Substance is a dangerous opioid, agency says

(Newser) - Kratom is a deadly opioid, not a safe alternative to opioids or an effective treatment for withdrawal, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday in its strongest warning yet against the herbal supplement. The agency said new data shows that the increasingly popular substance has "opioid properties" and has...

Researchers Finger Supplement That's Especially Risky for Kids

Scientists are issuing a warning about yohimbe

(Newser) - A Journal of Medical Toxicology study of calls made to poison control centers over the past 12 years finds one herbal supplement to be particularly concerning. Of those calls, the ones with the biggest proportion of serious medical outcomes had to do with yohimbe tree bark extract, NBC News reports....

Herbal Tea Habit Suspected in Young Man's Psychosis

The 25-year-old drank a lot of tea with St. John's wort

(Newser) - Doctors in Italy suspect that a man's herbal tea habit may have played a role in his psychosis. Specifically, the 25-year-old had been drinking four cups a day of tea made with St. John's wort, the doctors report in the Journal of Medical Case Reports . His friends brought...

Docs Warn Against Herbal 'Detox' That Sent Woman to ER

Medley of herbs resulted in severe hyponatremia

(Newser) - After a woman wound up in the hospital in the UK last year after ingesting a medley of herbs for a New Year's "detox," doctors are issuing a warning: There is such a thing as too much water, and people need to be careful with supplements, even...

Popular Herbal Supplement Will Be Classified Like LSD

DEA is putting kratom on the list of Schedule 1 drugs

(Newser) - Heroin, marijuana, LSD, and ... kratom? The latter is a plant native to southeast Asia, and it's about to join the others on the most restrictive drug classification list in the US. The DEA said this week that kratom—specifically its active ingredients, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine—will become a Schedule...

Dietary Supplements Land 63 People in the ER Daily

FDA, CDC study identifies 23K such ER visits annually

(Newser) - Dietary supplements promise to help you lose weight, build muscle, and boost energy, but they could also send you to the emergency room. Some 23,000 ER visits each year are attributed to everything from herbal pills to vitamins that cause cardiovascular problems, severe allergic reactions, and vomiting, particularly in...

Teen Drinks Green Tea to Lose Weight, Gets Hepatitis

'I will never buy any online tea again'

(Newser) - A 16-year-old girl in England decided she was going to lose weight by drinking green tea, so she ordered two boxes online, the Telegraph reports. Most of the ingredients were written in Chinese, but the girl spent the next three months drinking three cups a day. According to ABC News...

4 Retailers Selling Misleading Herbal Supplements: NY AG

GNC, Walmart, Target, Walgreen accused of hawking possibly dangerous products

(Newser) - Consumers who've been popping herbal supplements may want to take note after the New York State attorney general announced yesterday that four retail giants are selling herbal items that may be mislabeled, crammed with fillers, and potentially dangerous, the Guardian reports. Eric Schneiderman sent cease-and-desist letters to Walmart, GNC,...

Herbal Supplements: Actually Rice, Weeds
 Herbal Supplements: 
 Actually Rice, Weeds 
in case you missed it
Nov 9, 2013 6:59 AM CST

Herbal Supplements: Actually Rice, Weeds

DNA tests reveal dilution, substitution

(Newser) - Tests to determine what's really in popular herbal supplements found a key ingredient is often missing: herbs. Researchers conducted DNA tests on 44 bottles of the remedies sold by 12 companies and found that around a third contained no trace at all of the healing herb they were supposed...

Echinacea Won't Ease Your Cold
Echinacea
Won't Ease Your Cold
study says
Dec 21, 2010 8:16 AM CST

Echinacea Won't Ease Your Cold

Herbal remedy no better than placebo, researchers find

(Newser) - For those battling colds this winter, the herbal supplement echinacea may be popular, but it won’t actually help ease the severity or duration of your misery, researchers find. Those who took the supplement in a 700-person study found their symptoms faded just 7 to 10 hours earlier than those...

Study: Most Herbal Supplements Contaminated

Crackdown unlikely to make it into food safety bill

(Newser) - Herbal supplements are often contaminated with pesticides and heavy metals, and sellers are prone to making illegal claims about their health benefits, a congressional study has found. Almost all 40 dietary supplements tested had trace amounts of contaminants like lead and mercury, and 16 of the samples contained pesticide residues...

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