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Stubborn Views on Herbs and Supplements By Michael O'Reilly, M.D. ThirdAge Reproductive Expert

BOSTON - The number of dietary supplement users has grown dramatically in recent years. These days, almost half of adults in the United States regularly take at least one vitamin, herb, mineral or over-the-counter supplement. As of last year, the industry had grown to over $15 billion in sales -- a figure that's caused the academic medical community to take notice.

What's behind this incredible growth? What role do Americans feel the government should play in the regulation of herbs and supplements? To find the answers, Dr. Robert Blendon of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health reviewed surveys of several thousand adults. The results revealed some surprising findings.

Most of those surveyed did not tell their physicians about their supplement use because they felt their doctors would know "little or nothing" about the supplements and might be biased against them.

One-third of regular supplement users felt there was a supplement that could help them live longer. Many users felt that supplements could fight colds (61 percent), depression (52 percent) and arthritis (53 percent). They also believed that supplements could be helpful in treating cancer (35 percent) and AIDS (16 percent).

The supplement users were in sound favor of government regulation, especially where safety was concerned. According to the report, "A majority of Americans surveyed supported the following: to require that the Food and Drug Administration review the safety of new dietary supplements prior to their sale; to provide increased authority to remove from sale those products shown to be unsafe; and to increase government regulation to ensure that advertising claims about the health benefits of dietary supplements are true."

However, 71 percent of the Americans surveyed indicated that they would continue to take their supplements even if the FDA proved them ineffective.

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Increasingly popular dietary supplements and alternative medicines have a dark side. Find out why you need to proceed with caution.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001