This could save your life - Advice from Dr. Robert Brueck, Fort Myers Plastic Surgeon

This blog message is brought to you by Dr. Robert J. Brueck, Board Certified plastic surgeon in Fort Myers, Florida, who also has a web site at http://www.BeautybyBrueck.com .

THIS COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE!

Now that I have your attention let me give all of you, my wonderful friends and patients, a few words of warning that conceivably could save your life.

Realize that supplements are not as closely scrutinized as drugs in America. A senate judiciary committee recently sat down to plan a hearing this month focusing on dietary supplements and their safety.

There are countless stories of individuals taking dietary supplements and developing liver problems, bleeding problems, mood changes or alterations and the like.

I remember a short time ago I did a face lift on a lady who was taking Omega-3 fish oils. She bled profusely and developed a hematoma which is a collection of blood under the skin. This had to be drained. In the end she was fine. What was surprising to me was that nearly 67% of adults take dietary supplements. That’s a lot of people. It’s important to understand the concerns that may exist concerning certain supplements.

In a 2007 survey of weight loss and athletic supplements the British labs analyzing these substances found trace amounts of steroids in 25% of the samples that they tested.

Since December, 2008 the FDA has issued warnings about more than 70 weight loss supplements. Now we all know why so many athletes are banned for steroid use or is this really the case? I know I have all of my surgical patients get off ALL dietary supplements two weeks before surgery.

Some helpful websites include the National Libraries of Medicines Medlineplus.gov under the heading drugs and supplements.

Also try NCCAM.NIH.gov and dietarysupplements.info.nih.gov.

You can also go to www.FDA.gov to see if supplements that you are currently taking are included under the warnings label. I guess it’s true that sometimes simple is better.

All the very best and I hope this proves beneficial to you.