Dietary supplements can be unnecessary
Consult your doctor before use, says UCI Health expert
IN THE NEWS: More than half of the American population takes dietary supplements, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Unless a dietary supplement is being used to correct a known vitamin or mineral deficiency, doctors tend to be skeptical regarding effectiveness and advise of potential health hazards.
UCI Health neurologist Dr. Brian Hitt recently spoke to the New York Times about what people need to know about dietary supplements and safety.
“The supplement industry is essentially unregulated, so you’re basically taking a gamble any time you’re taking one of those products; if the bottle does not tell you the amounts of everything that’s in it, then that’s one to get rid of.”
Hitt added that even when dietary supplements aren’t harmful, they may do nothing at all. He says across the board that many science-based providers don’t recommend them.
Learn more about supplement safety from the National Institutes of Health.
Hitt is a board-certified UCI Health behavioral neurologist who specializes in the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive and memory disorders. He is also an assistant professor of neurology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. Hitt has conducted extensive basic research into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's and related neurodegenerative diseases. His current research interests include bench-to-bedside translational studies to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic ways to target the tau protein, which is involved in the pathology of Alzheimer's and several other neurodegenerative diseases.
About UCI Health
UCI Health, one of California’s largest academic health systems, is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. The 1,461-bed system comprises its main campus UCI Health — Orange, its flagship hospital, the UCI Health — Irvine acute care hospital and medical campus, four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and a network of ambulatory care centers across the region. UCI Health — Orange provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to the only Orange County-based National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves 5.6 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).