Supplements that are of no help

PETALING JAYA: There were no words to describe her despair after her diabetic patient, who resorted to taking a supplement to replace her medicines, could not be saved.

Sharing her experience, the doctor, who declined to be named, said the patient who succumbed two years ago had a very high level of blood sugar.

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“She paid RM500 monthly for the product and refused to take her medication. When she arrived at the clinic, her sugar level was so high that she went into a coma. We rushed her to the hospital, but she did not make it.

“As a doctor, I am furious when I see such a situation, especially since we give medicines for free but they refuse to take them,” said the doctor when contacted.

Unfortunately, this was not her only case. “I also had a patient who resorted to taking medicinal herbs, which resulted in her being diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome as the herbs contained steroids,” she said.

The doctor said most people opted for alternatives as they do not believe in drugs prescribed by hospitals or were desperate to find solutions on their own.

“Every medicine we prescribe is evidence-based, is widely used globally, and has many high-quality studies that show good outcomes. But there are no studies done on some of these shoddy supplements.

“When things get complicated the sellers don’t care... it is the patients who bear the consequences.”

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia health economics and public health specialist Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh said unregistered alternative medicines pose a risk to one’s kidney and liver functions and could cause kidney failure, high blood pressure, Cushing’s syndrome and even cancer.

She said some supplements were bottled without adequate research or lab testing and may contain heavy metals, besides steroids.

“As a short-term measure, steroids can lessen your symptoms very quickly, but without supervision, they have damaging effects if you consume them in the long term,” she said.

Sharifa said one of her patients was hospitalised due to high blood pressure after consuming traditional medicine.

“He consumed a type of traditional medicine along with other medicines without proper dosage and was warded. We asked him to stop and to only take medicines and vitamins given to him by the hospital,” she said.

Sharifa said alternative medicines may disrupt the functions of other medicines taken by patients.

She said people may turn to alternative medicine due to cultural beliefs, financial difficulty, or lack of accessibility to clinics and hospitals.

“For some people, it’s not easy to see a doctor. They may have to take leave, so they take the easy way out and buy products from family and friends,” she said.

With multiple infectious and non-infectious diseases, Sharifa urged the Health Ministry to step up surveillance of these alternative medicines and supplements.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry was increasing monitoring and enforcement on the advertising and sale of unregistered drugs, including traditional medicine.

He said health products and medicines marketed in Malaysia should be registered with the Drug Control Authority (PBKD) before they can be manufactured, supplied, imported or sold.

“A total of 23,767 unregistered product advertisements and 2,216 traditional product advertisements were screened from 2020 to 2022. Among the actions taken are notification of complaints to ecommerce platforms for content reduction, issuing warning letters, placing website and social media restrictions, and opening investigation papers,” he said.

He advised consumers who wished to consume any traditional product to discuss it with a qualified doctor or pharmacist first.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, community pharmacies are only permitted to sell and supply products registered under the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984 and must follow the provisions of the law to ensure the public’s safety and health.

The pharmaceutical products include health supplements, traditional products, and cosmetics, he said when contacted.

From 2020 to November 2022, he said, no counterfeit products were found based on a total of 11,018 inspections at community pharmacies.

Malaysia, according to Dr Noor Hisham, is constantly monitoring counterfeit products based on information from the World Health Organisation’s safety alerts on substandard and falsified medical products.

He said registered health products have a MAL registration number and hologram security sticker on their labels, and the public can check the product registration status or cosmetic notification number through the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency’s (NPRA) website at www.npra.gov.my.