Complementary health advice could be bad for you

More and more consumers are using complementary medicines. Jill Reid tells you where to go for safe advice on alternative therapies and supplements.

After I was diagnosed with a stomach complaint, I went in search of some natural remedies. Health store staff advised peppermint oil; the nutritional consultant recommended a non-dairy diet and the Traditional Chinese Herbalist gave me a special concoction of herbs straight off the boat from China. Surely my stomach would be better in no time.

In fact, it got markedly worse.

The sales person, the nutritional consultant and the Traditional Chinese Herbalist all gave me medical advice which was very bad indeed. And what's worse is that while none of them have received any recognised degree or training, all are allowed to dispense potentially harmful, even fatal, advice and medicines without any controls or regulations whatsoever.

After seeing my GP, I discovered just why my stomach problem had worsened. The peppermint oil, although good for some stomach conditions, is very bad for hiatus hernia, which I have. The health store staff evidently didn't know that.

In addition, the other advice was dubious at best. The nutritional consultant suggested I eliminate dairy products from my diet without questioning my family history of osteoporosis, which my mother, grandmother and several aunts have.

Safety last
And the Traditional Chinese Herbalist offered Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which has not had to undergo any pharmacological testing. It could prove to be dangerous or even lethal. Sound far-fetched? Tell that to the two British and 70 Belgian women who developed kidney damage caused by a TCM preparation. And there have been numerous reports in the US and Europe of liver damage and heart attacks leading to death, all linked to TCM.

While the complementary therapy industry is happy for consumers to think of supplements and herbal remedies as powerful medicine, they don't want the government to think that way. Most people assume that natural remedies are regulated in the same way as pharmaceuticals, but in reality, supplements are regulated in the same way as food.

If you want to sell carrots to the public, you don't have to prove that they are safe. It is assumed that all carrots are safe to eat. If someone gets sick because of your carrots, the government may then require tests to determine why.

As far as legislation is concerned, supplements and herbal remedies are carrots, not medicines. Injury has to happen before any testing is done to determine if the remedy is safe.