Yes! Harm Done by Quackery causes Outbreaks! Part 1

Secret Truths of Nutrition Quackery 106

Yes! Harm Done by Quackery causes Outbreaks! Part 1

This will be a four part series on Harm done by Quackery that will include: indirect harm by omission, psychological harm, economic harm, social harm, and direct harm by commission. This four part series will discuss how the harm caused by quackery fits into these categories.

Indirect Harm

Quackery can seriously harm or kill people by persuading them to abandon, delay, or fail to seek effective medical treatment for grave medical conditions (Barrett and Jarvis, ADA 2008). This is considered indirect harm by omission (Calif. Medical Association). While the number of people lured away from effective treatment into disability or death cannot be ascertained, it is apparently not large enough or obvious enough to provoke a public outcry (Barrett and Jarvis).

Direct Harm

Direct harm is considerd harm by commission such as poisoning, maiming, malnutrition, or injury (Barrett and Jarvis). This category includes dangers posed by herbs, herb and drug interactions, contaminated and adulterated supplements, excess vitamins and minerals, and the macrobiotic diet. The L- trytophan tragedy will be discussed first since it is good example of the harm that can occur when dietary supplements are sold without proof of safety, efficacy, potency, or purity (Foster and Tyler).


L-Tryptophan

Here is an example of what direct harm can do and why it is up to you to be preventative and use true wisdom before it is life threatening to you or anyone you know and care for. Studies in the 1960's and 1970's showed that 1 gm doses of L-tryptophan, an essential amino acid, reduced the time needed to fall asleep in both normal people and mild insomniacs. Even though the product was not approved for drug use, health food stores (quick to recognize a potential money-maker) began to market 100 to 667 mg capsules utilized as an over-the-counter sleep aid, and was even promoted to aid depression, premenstrual syndrome, and weight loss, although it had not been proven or safe or effective for any of these purposes (Barrett and Herbert).

In 1989 all disaster struck. A contaminated batch of the amino acid supplement triggered an outbreak of eosinophilic myalagia syndrome (EMS), a rare disorder characterized by severe muscle and joint pain, weakness, swelling, of the arms and legs, fever, skin rash, and an increase in eoisinophils, a type of white blood cell (Barrett and Herbert,1994). Over the next year, 1,500 cases and 38 deaths were reported (Barrett and Herbert, 1994). The outbreak was traced to a contaminant in L-tryptophan produced by a manufacturing problem at the plant of Showa Denko KK in Japan (Foster and Tyler,1999;Barrett and Herbert, 1994).

Most authorities still believe to this day that L-tryptophan never should have been marketed to the public in the first place. Like most single ingredient amino acids, it did not have FDA approval for medicinal use. In fact, the FDA issued a ban in 1973 but did not enforce it (Barrett and Herbert, 1994).

This article was not written to scare you or make you afraid of everything out on the market, because I see no point in being scared of everything that is no fun and not my position at all. I do want you educated, and informed on what you put into your body. You also must get as credible as possible sources of information to what you truly need. These are scary times we are living in and all kinds of things are coming out of the wood works so please be advised.

Have a healthy and happy day!!

To yours in Health, Fitness, and serious Nutrition talk,

Natalie Pyles

References: Nutrition Dimension, Ellen Coleman, (Barrett and Herbert), (Foster and Tyler).

NSA Speaker, Author, Medical Exercise and Post Rehab Conditioning Specialist, Licensed Nutritionist, Health, Fitness, and Holistic Nutrition and Nursing Educator