{"id":6075,"date":"2021-09-02T00:47:59","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T00:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobelyn.com.ng\/ng\/?p=6075"},"modified":"2024-04-18T03:19:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T03:19:01","slug":"scientists-must-speak-out-against-misinformation-about-immune-boosting-supplements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobelyn.com.ng\/ng\/2021\/09\/02\/scientists-must-speak-out-against-misinformation-about-immune-boosting-supplements\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists must speak out against misinformation about \u201cimmune-boosting\u201d supplements"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists must speak out against misinformation about “immune-boosting” supplements (massivesci.com)<\/a><\/p>\n

Dietary supplements can be dangerous, despite what social media influencers say<\/p>\n

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Shelby Bradford<\/a><\/p>\n

Immunology<\/p>\n

West Virginia University<\/p>\n

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The COVID-19 pandemic saw\u00a0huge increases\u00a0<\/a>in searches for immunity boosters, including for things like supplements claiming to improve immune function. But even before COVID-19 scared people into their nearest supermarket aisle, \u201cwellness\u201d through supplements was a\u00a0multi-billion<\/a>\u00a0dollar industry. Celebrities and influencers across social media platforms regularly advertise and promote a myriad of supplements to improve health and the immune system. However, there are some major problems with these claims \u2014 namely, vitamin companies are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as drugs, and many supplements\u00a0don\u2019t work as claimed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unlike pharmaceuticals, which must undergo clinical trials that are reviewed by the FDA for the product\u2019s safety and efficacy, dietary supplements have a less stringent path to market shelves. Even though they are most often found in or next to the store pharmacy, dietary supplements are\u00a0regulated as food<\/a>, not as drugs. This means that they have\u00a0not been evaluated<\/a>\u00a0or proven effective. Furthermore, while the manufacturer must prove the ingredients are \u201creasonably safe\u201d, none of these products are formally \u201capproved<\/a>\u201d by the FDA. But these\u00a0supplements<\/a>\u00a0are not always\u00a0inherently harmless<\/a>\u00a0options for people trying to live a healthy lifestyle. A\u00a02015 study<\/a>\u00a0concluded adverse effects from dietary supplements caused an \u201cestimated 23,000 emergency department visits in the United States every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite these risks, there has been an unfortunate absence of expert voices contesting supplement company claims with real data. \u201cThere needs to be a more robust response from the science community in the face of pseudoscience and misinformation,\u201d says Tim Caulfield, a professor of health law at the University of Alberta, who has worked on\u00a0studies and books<\/a>\u00a0examining ads and posts claiming to support the immune system on social media. He explains that supplement marketing often builds on the common misperception that if the right amount of a vitamin is good for you, more is better. \u201cThat\u2019s not the case at all,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n