Saturday, September 13, 2008 Cure-all drugs? 'No such thing'
THE Department of Health (DOH) 7 is appealing to the public to be careful what drugs they take, amid a growing fixation with food supplements that supposedly improve a person’s health.
“What is important is that you have to look at the Bfad (Bureau of Food and Drugs) registration and the expiration date,” said Dr. Thelma Fernandez, DOH 7 Botika ng Barangay coordinator.
While media reports label most food supplements as a “cure-all” drug, Fernandez said the food supplements were not registered as drugs yet.
“If you’ll take a look at the Bfad registration, these pills and tablets are registered as food supplements,” said Fernandez. “And there is no such thing as a drug that cures every ailment.”
Fernandez added that consumers of food supplements should be cautious of some of the testimonials released in advertisements.
“Food supplements aid us for nourishment, but cure all health problems? That’s something else. In the testimonials they say the food supplement helped lower their high blood pressure, but actually, they cannot really say that. After all, at the end of the advertisement, they say there are ‘no approved therapeutic claims.’ That’s just contradictory,” said Fernandez.
She explained that before creators of food supplements can claim that their products help lower high blood pressure and other health problems, the drugs have to undergo a series of tests to prove their efficacy.
“However, none of the food supplements on the market have undergone any clinical trials. They do not undergo clinical trials because these are expensive. Aside from the testing, you’ll have to pay for the people who will undergo the month-long testing. You pay for their food, and accommodation,” said Fernandez.
While the health department cannot stop the public from taking supposed “cure-all” food supplements, Fernandez said that one should not forget to take their regular prescription drugs as well.
“My first job was at the district hospital in Bogo. There was a time when we received terminally ill patients and the common factor among all of them was the food supplement that all of them took. It turned out that since the food supplement claimed to help their hypertension, they stopped taking their maintenance drugs for hypertension. As a side effect, they all suffered from renal infection,” said Fernandez.
Fernandez added that the same concern went with the use of the local “mangagaw” (“tawa-tawa”, snake weed, cat’s hair) weed as a cure for dengue fever.
“There’s still some concern about boiling that plant as a cure for dengue. Because, when you boil a plant, there are always chemical reactions. In turn, there are waste products from boiling plants. In order to separate the waste product, everything has to be filtered,” said Fernandez.
However, in most cases, the water used for boiling the mangagaw weed is not filtered.
“If you just stick to boiling the plant, the patient will drink the waste product as well,” said Fernandez.
While the claims of the mangagaw’s efficacy against dengue have been acknowledged, the health department is still conducting an extensive study on the weed’s properties to fight dengue fever. (EPB)
