Natural
doesn't
mean
safe
Experts
say
natural
health
products
can
have
unexpected
consequences
By
Jacob
Serebrin,
The
Concordian
(Concordia
University)
MONTREAL
(CUP)
-As
students
explore
herbal
supplements
to
help
them
study
during
exam
periods,
health
educators
are
warning
them
that
natural
health
products
could
pose
serious
health
risks.
"Herbal
supplements,
fall
kind
of
into
a
grey
area
because
they
are
not
covered
by
health
Canada
as
pharmaceutical
medications
are,"
said
Gaby
Szabo,
a
health
educator
at
Concordia
University.
While
supplements
must
be
registered
with
Health
Canada,
if
all
a
product's
ingredients
are
considered
safe
the
product
may
be
sold
before
the
product
itself
has
been
tested.
These
products
can
be
sold
by
anyone,
and
that
has
pharmacists
worried.
"The
thing
we're
uncomfortable
with
is
the
trivializations
of
drug
use,
or
natural
health
product
use.
You
have
people
who
go
to
a
convenience
store,
they
pick
up
whatever,
alcohol
or
something
like
that,
and
then
next
to
the
counter
they
see
a
de-stress
pill
or
any
sort
of
product
that
seems
to
be
an
instant
fix,"
said
pharmacist
Michel
Caron.
Caron
thinks
that
people
should
seek
professional
advice
before
taking
natural
supplements.
"When
they
work
it's
because
they
have
some
sort
of
pharmacological
entity
inside,
some
sort
of
active
compound,"
he
said.
"They
might
have
interactions
with
other
medication.
It's
not
because
it's
natural
that
it's
safe."
"We've
seen
situations
where
young
women
are
taking
Saint
John's
Wart
and
not
knowing
or
not
being
told
that
these
products
might
interact
with
oral
contraceptives
and
then
having
less
efficient
oral
contraceptives
and
pregnancy
follows."
"A
lot
of
people
in
the
general
public
don't
realize
how
very
potent
and
sometimes
very
poisonous
some
natural
products
may
be,"
said
Margaret
Somerville,
a
professor
in
the
faculty
of
medicine
at
McGill
University
and
the
founding
director
of
the
McGill
Centre
for
Medicine,
Ethics
and
Law.
Somerville
pointed
out
that
apricot
seeds,
which
have
been
claimed
to
have
health
benefits,
can
be
extremely
poisonous
in
larger
quantities,
which
is
why
the
products
need
to
be
controlled.
"The
whole
reason
you
restrict
drugs
to
pharmacies
is
because
pharmacists
are
very
highly
trained
people,"
she
said.
With
exams
on
the
way,
some
students
may
find
themselves
reaching
for
products
that
claim
to
help
with
memory,
but
Szabo
cautioned
that
none
of
these
effects
have
been
proven.
"To
date
there
are
no
products
that
are
supported
by
good
quality
science
to
help
with
the
memory,"
she
said.
"For
example
ginseng
is
often
marketed
as
a
memory
aid,
but
there
is
no
good
quality
science
supporting
that.
What
supports
memory
is
revisiting
the
material
regularly,
getting
a
good
night
sleep,
the
night
before
the
exam
and
throughout
your
study
period."
"No
supplement
will
change
how
a
person
will
perform
in
their
exam
that
is
really
dependent
on
how
much,
how
well
and
how
effectively
they
studied
in
the
days
before
and
in
the
weeks
before,"
said
Szabo.
5
College
of
New
Caledonia
-
Ion
fOKBSTS
Of-
CHA(qt
Reflect
Renew
Rejoice
ACCC
2008
Association
of
Canadian
Community
Colleges
(ACCC)
2008
Annual
Conference
Plan
to
join
us
next
spring
as
the
College
of
New
Caledonia
hosts
over
800
delegates
from
Canada
and
around
the
world.
This
conference
will
be
an
international
meeting
place
for
all
colleges
and
institutes
to
share
their
success
stories
and
help
shape
a
new
direction
for
the
future!
Sessions
and
workshops
for
students
will
be
scheduled
shortly.
Please
contact
Barb
Old
at
562-2131
ext.
5591
for
more
information.
May
25-27,
2008