Herbal Supplements

Since ICOF last covered herbal supplements on July 17, 1998, the use of ephedra came under serious scrutiny, especially after the death of a major league baseball player. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) eventually banned the sale of the popular herbal dietary supplement.

The recent surge in the use of herbal remedies in the U.S. amounts to no less than a health-care revolution, according to some analysts. Polls indicate that approximately 60 million Americans have taken herbal supplements, including about 50 million who say they are current users. Long a staple of so-called alternative medicine--a range of unconventional approaches to health care--herbal remedies have become accepted by large numbers of mainstream consumers in recent years. Consumers have turned to a wide variety of botanical extracts to maintain good health and to treat everything from the common cold to cancer symptoms. They have used products made from the echinacea plant, for example, in hopes of boosting their immune systems, and have taken pills containing St. John's wort, another herb, to alleviate depression.

Although herbal supplements are often considered alternative medicine, they have created a booming mainstream business. According to the Nutrition Business Journal, Americans spent nearly $12 billion in 1997 on dietary supplements--which include herbs, vitamins, minerals and other nutritional supplements. More than $3.6 billion of that, or nearly a third of the supplement market, was spent on supplements that are classified as herbs or botanicals. That amount has more than tripled from an estimated $1 billion in 1993.

Herbal remedies are widely used in many other countries, and were common in the U.S. before a surge in synthetic drug manufacturing began around the time of World War II. Some observers link the recent resurgence in the use of dietary supplements to widespread disenchantment with conventional medicine. Rising health care costs and the advent of managed health care, an insurance-driven system which many people see as impersonal and bureaucratic, have inspired many consumers to turn to alternative remedies, including herbal supplements.

Some physicians welcome herbal remedies as safe alternatives to conventional over-the-counter and prescription medications, since they often have fewer side effects than those drugs. Dietary supplements, including herbal preparations, are also marketed as preventive medical tools--ways to stop illness before it starts, rather than to treat symptoms of existing illness or disease. Some see the movement as great progress for public health, and are optimistic that the growth in dietary supplement use will help keep Americans healthy and further prolong the average human lifespan.

Many in the medical profession, however, are alarmed at the recent growth of the dietary supplement market. Most herbal supplements have scant research to back the claims of their manufacturers, and have not been subjected to the same rigorous testing as have prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Many physicians worry that people with serious medical problems will forego traditional treatment and turn to unproven, ineffective or even dangerous herbal remedies instead.

Since Congress loosened restrictions on dietary supplements in 1994, manufacturers have flooded the market with products that claim to promote a range of effects--from weight loss and anti-aging products to memory aids and products that lower cholesterol. Critics say that those products are playing on consumers' fears and insecurities and that the products cannot live up to their claims.

Critics of herbal supplements have been vocal, but advocates of the remedies are speaking with their dollars by demonstrating strong demand for the products, and the billion-dollar market has drawn in a number of pharmaceutical companies. Although some medical experts fear that herbal supplements are dangerously underregulated and potentially harmful to consumers, many people who take herbal supplements believe the products to be effective and health-promoting.

Sources

Cowley, Geoffrey. "Herbal Warning." Newsweek (May 6, 1996): 60.

Daniels, Anthony. "To Heal the Hollow Soul." National Review (July 6, 1998): 46.

Hellmich, Nanci. "Many Doubt Supplements Can Live up to the Claims." USA Today (November 25, 1997): 1A.

Krantz, Michael. "The Self-Medication Generation." Time (May 12, 1997): 72.

Okie, Susan. "With Dietary Supplements, Health Claims Needn't Wait for Science." Washington Post (November 25, 1997): A1.