Take care with multivitamins
January 21, 2013
MULTIVITAMINS are medicines
and care should be exercised in
their usage, according to NPS
MedicineWise.
The comments follow the release
of research by Canstar Blue which
showed that more than half of
Australians who take multivitamins
don’t know they are medicines.
The research looked at responses
from 1,443 Aussies who had bought
multivitamins in the last 12 months.
Findings showed that three in five
multivitamin consumers did not
include multivitamins when asked
to declare which medications they
are taking, whilst one third of said
their health practitioner had
recommended they take a
multivitamin.
Responding to the results NPS
clinical advisor Dr Andrew Boyden
said “There is the potential for side
effects or interactions when taking
medicines available over the counter
or from supermarkets, health food
shops or other shops, herbalists,
naturopaths and the internet”.
“Multivitamins and other
complementary medicines should
be treated as medicines and taken
with care.
“And you should also keep in mind
that compared with prescription and
pharmacy medicines, complementary
medicines undergo less testing in
general, so less is usually known
about their effectiveness,” he added.
In addition, Boyden added that
whilst multivitamins typically
contain various vitamins and
minerals, many also contain other
complementary medicines such as
herbs.
“Even though herbs come from a
‘natural’ source, many are known
to interact with other medicines,
and can cause side effects for some
people,” he said.
“It’s really important to be open
with your health professional about
any medicines you take, including
supplements.
“People may think that some
doctors disapprove of
complementary medicines, but
that’s not always the case and your
health professional will want to help
you avoid any side effects and
interactions with your other
medicines,” he said.
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