Supplement With That?

Do you, or does someone you know, use nutritional supplements? How about supple-ments and meds? Assume nothing about the safety of supplements, particularly in combination with prescription or over-the-counter medications.
Supplements have traditionally drawn fire for lack of scientific study, purity and for cost versus efficacy. Nonetheless some are so effective, no-one can pry them out of our weathered hands. For many of us who grew up in the 1960s and '70s nutrition and supplementation are either revered or considered a necessary evil. Virtually no-one of a "certain age" is neutral about nutrition and health. Combining certain innocent-sounding ingredients, however, can prove fatally toxic. The list is enormous and growing. 

There are so many ways to heal. Arrogance may have a place in technology, but not in healing. I need to get out of my own way if I am to heal.   Anne Wilson Schaef     
     

     AARP publishes up-to-date advisories concerning prescription drugs, supplements and interactions available on the AARP website. In a 2012 survey the AARP Public Policy Institute polled people 50 years old and older, asking whether they had used nutritional supplements the previous month. More than half said they had, and 52 percent reported daily use. 

      Here's the kicker. Fewer than half of the people giving a positive response said they talked to their doctors about the pills they took. Did they look elsewhere for information about the possible dangers of their supplements, or about possible interactions with prescriptions they were taking? We can only hope.

     Everyone needs to know: 1) the terms natural, homeopathic, holistic, botanical and organic have nothing at all to do with safety or efficacy;  2) "over-the-counter" and "no prescription required" refer to drugs; i.e., anyone who takes them, is taking drugs;  3) supplements poison users, children and pets, at least as often as prescription drugs, so treat them and safeguard them as the potentially toxic substances they are; 3) as pharmaceuticals are developed and marketed, the danger of interaction grows incrementally; 3) the less medical providers know about supplements a patient takes, the greater the danger of permanent injury or death. 

    With regard to prescription drugs, here is a link regarding particularly dangerous pharmaceuticals other than supplements: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-w-besdine-md/medication-safety_b_1186690.html

       I urge every reader to keep an up-to-date list of all nutritional supplements, prescription and over-the-counter medications. FamilyDoctor.org recommends taking everything along to an annual physical checkup. Here is a link to this group's advice for the prevention of medical errors: http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/healthcare-management/self-care/medical-errors-tips-to-help-prevent-them.html
   
Regardless of how one feels about alternative versus conventional medicine, we are our own best advocates. Never be less cautious with supplements than with prescription drugs!