If you take supplements to your diet like Niacin, comfrey, Kava and even green tea in high doses, you can be causing injury to your wellbeing and your liver in particular.
According to Steven Scaglione, MD, of the Loyola University Health System (LUHS) and the Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM), the liver damage cause by acetaminophen, or dose-dependent drugs and idiosyncratic drugs not only negatively affects your liver wellness, but is the leading cause of liver failure, responsible for half of reported cases in the United States.
Over 25 billion doses of acetaminophen are sold yearly and it is one of the most widely-used over-the-counter pain relievers. According to Scaglione ‘Therapeutic doses of acetaminophen have been associated with liver toxicity’ which is also scary because acetaminophen is also a basic component in many over-the-counter cold and flu remedies for adults and children.
Scaglione says ‘Awareness of the dangers of acetaminophen has risen but many consumers and even many health care professionals are not aware that certain popular herbal and dietary supplements can also cause liver damage’ and goes on to list ‘Kava, comfrey, valerian, vitamin A, niacin and even green tea, when consumed in high doses’ as being linked to liver disease.
LiverTox is a new database launched in October 2012 by the NIH, or National Institutes of Health, and has 700 searchable medications. Scaglione praises the LiverTox website as ‘very user-friendly and provides evidence-based data in a clear and succinct manner’ and lists the use of case examples as ‘particularly helpful’. He argues ‘liver injury caused by medications is often difficult to identify and diagnose as well as treat’ and so the new LiverTox online reference could be ‘ideal for medical professionals as an educational tool and a guide in the evaluation of patients with suspected drug induced liver injury’.
The NIH is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and will be adding another 300 drugs to the database within the next few years.
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