Experts issue urgent warning as common practice causes deadly liver injuries to rise in the US
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/herstockart
Experts have issued a warning about a common practice many will partake in every day that has been linked to deadly liver injuries in the US.
To put it simply, the liver plays a crucial role in the function of the human body and is responsible for assisting more than 500 activities, including filtering harmful substances from the blood.
Some livers metabolize toxins more slowly than others, meaning some drugs can overwhelm and cause harm to even the healthiest of livers out there.
But what about supplements? They're something lots of us take everyday, thinking it's good for our health and overall wellbeing.
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Well, experts may say otherwise.
Medics are warning that herbal and dietary supplements could be causing liver damage, with a 2017 study finding 20 percent of liver toxicity cases nationwide are linked to herbal and dietary supplements.
Meanwhile, according to a 2022 study in the journal Liver Transplantation, from 1995 to 2020, supplement-related liver failure which put patients on the donor waiting list increased by eight times.
Robert Grafton was a regular taker of such supplements, but things changed when he reported dark urine and itching one weekend and recognised the symptoms of liver failure.
Grafton told NBC: "I stopped taking everything, thank goodness. If I hadn’t known, if I was not in the medical field, I might have thought, ‘Oh, I think I’m getting sick. I need to take some more of these supplements to help me feel better.’
"My liver enzymes were super elevated, my bilirubin was really high — all the signs of liver failure. I pretty much broke down, my wife as well. I was, at that point, thinking it was liver cancer, pancreatic cancer or something."
After many sleepless nights, Grafton was told by doctors he had a 'drug-induced liver injury', which had been brought on by the supplements.
Dr. Dina Halegoua-De Marzio, who treated Grafton during his time of need, has since issued a warning about these supplements.
"I think people assume these things are safe," the health expert said. "The No. 1 reason we see people taking these are for good health or to supplement their health, and so I don’t think that they realize that there is a real risk here."
It's important to note the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not monitor supplement safety before they are put on store shelves, so it's important you know the risks.
In a statement provided to NBC News, the FDA warned: "Dietary supplements may contain ingredients that can have strong effects in the body, even if the ingredients are natural or plant-derived.
"Adverse events are more likely to occur if consumers take supplements in high doses, take multiple supplements or take supplements instead of or in addition to medications."