New Delhi: Dr Tejal Lathia, a consulting endocrinologist at the Mumbai-based Apollo and Fortis Hospitals, said she was recently left wondering why a Type 2 diabetes mellitus patient had vitamin D toxicity.
Further investigation revealed the culprits — a fear of contracting Covid-19 and a social media barrage on the unproven claim that vitamin D pills boost immunity.
“The patient had seen messages on social media on how vitamin D may help in building immunity against Covid-19. But instead of the recommended dose of one pill a week, she consumed one a day,” Dr Lathia told ThePrint.
High vitamin D levels can spike blood and urine calcium levels which, in turn, can cause nausea, vomiting, dehydration, dizziness, confusion, and drowsiness among other changes.
“Vitamin D in blood levels greater than 150 ng/ml can cause all these symptoms reflecting toxicity. My patient had a level of 348 ng/ml but luckily did not suffer any consequences,” she said.
The Mumbai doctor added that almost all of her patients are taking immunity boosters in one form or another. “I have been hearing about the immunity boosting measures from all my patients,” she said. “The most-used products are homemade kadhas, zinc, vitamin C and vitamin D and medicines like the homeopathic Arsenicum album.”
And Dr Lathia isn’t alone.
Doctors across the country are fighting new-age medical emergencies that involve the over-consumption of turmeric, fenugreek seeds, aloe vera juice, Vitamin D pills — all driven by unproven social media messages that they boost immunity against Covid-19.
“My colleagues and I are seeing a lot of patients who are self-medicating with so-called immune boosting agents,” said Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, a specialist in hepatology and liver transplant medicine at the Cochin Gastroenterology Group in Kerala.
“The major factor for this sudden interest among patients is the fear of contracting Covid-19, especially those who are immune compromised,” Philips said. “The relentless social media posts, promotion by the government on immunity boosting practices using herbs is leading consumers to adopt such unhealthy practices. In turn, quacks are also cashing in on the opportunity.”
Medical practitioners pointed towards the central government advice of using alternative medicine systems such as homoeopathy and ayurveda to ward off the coronavirus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly asked people to follow an advisory issued by the Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy), which suggests a range of home remedies to boost immunity, including consumption of turmeric, honey, ginger and some concoctions.
The central government has also recommended a course of ‘Arsenicum album 30’ — a homeopathic medicine.
“While using these products in moderation or recommended quantity may not cause any harm, people have started consuming these products without knowing their proper dosage, way of preparation and consumption and their interaction with their ongoing medications. The trend is dangerous,” said Dr Manoj Goel, director, pulmonology at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram.
Also read: India readying roadmap to ensure Covid vaccine reaches all in ‘shortest time’, ICMR says
Side-effects of over consuming natural products
Doctors are seeing a spike in the number of patients complaining of side-effects that are then traced back to their diets.
Dr Philips said he has seen “patients who have consumed decoctions of Fenugreek (methi seeds) and landed in trouble”. According to the Kerala-based doctor, fenugreek seeds in large doses lead to thinning of blood and “can dangerously cause bleeding events in patients with or without liver disease”.
He cited the example of a patient who took to a fenugreek decoction to boost immunity. “After use of fenugreek decoction for a whole week (two glasses of fenugreek boiled water a day), his test ratio (to check for blood thinning) was above 3 (which normally is usually 1 or less),” Dr Philips said. “After stopping Fenugreek decoction, the test value was restored to normal levels but he had a few bleeding spots on the skin.”
“Another big issue I have faced is high consumption of special juice diets, especially aloe vera juice which is very dangerous. It induces liver injury,” Dr Philips added.
Dr M. Shafi Kuchay, senior consultant, endocrinology and diabetes at Medanta Hospital in Delhi, tweeted that he had seen a patient who had consumed excessive amounts of turmeric to ward off Covid-19.
“Yesterday, (I) saw a patient for diabetes. Bilirubin was normal. He had yellow eyes but no symptoms of any liver disease. Reason: He had consumed 2 tablespoons of turmeric with water, three times per day, for the last two-three months. This was for prevention of Covid19.”
Yesterday saw a patient for diabetes. He had yellow eyes but no symptoms of any liver disease. Bilirubin was normal. Reason: He had consumed 2 tablespoons of turmeric with water, three times per day, for last 2-3 months. This was for prevention of #COVID-19. ??
— M Shafi Kuchay (@drshafikuchay) September 2, 2020
“We have seen several patients taking mostly local herbal-based preparations for boosting immunity,” he told ThePrint.
According to Dr Gaurav Jain, consultant, internal medicine, at the Delhi-based Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, four to five patients a day are reporting side effects after consuming “immunity boosters”.
“It is unfortunate to see people putting themselves at the other health risks in the name of consuming immunity boosters,” Dr Jain said. “Overconsumption of products such as ashwagandha, kaadha (concoctions) and chyawanprash among others is leading to digestion problems and other health issues.”
Survey finds high sale of immunity boosters
Numbers also bear out the trend of high consumption of products labelled as immunity boosters.
According to a survey by Pronto Consult, a health research firm, immunity boosters are now an increasing trend across categories not only in medicines, but also in food-related products.
“Out of every 100 medicine bills, 92 were for immunity-boosting products,” the survey found, adding “products containing honey, chyawanprash, ginger, moringa oleifera, probiotics, green tea, amla (gooseberry), tulsi (basil), haldi (turmeric), lemongrass, karela (bitter gourd), jamun (berry), saffron seen a trend upwards, including detox brands.”
Medical practitioners, however, warn that they should be consulted for proper dosage of immunity boosting products, especially among those suffering from medical conditions.
“Don’t consume any immunity booster without proper consultation, especially if one is already suffering from another disease. Consult your concerned specialist first,” Dr Jain advised.
The doctors say that the risk and benefits of supplements has been assessed on a case-to-case basis.
“It is my practice to assess risk versus benefit. These boosters (such as vitamin C or D or Zinc) may not cause any harm if taken in appropriate doses,” Dr Lathia said. “I usually advise simple steam inhalation or gargles because most people want to do something to satisfy their fear of catching Covid-19.”
“I strongly discourage the use of unknown store-bought products without appropriate labelling or substances that can cause harm,” she said while adding that “weight management, good control of blood sugars and blood pressure with appropriate medications, use of mask and hand washing are the best immunity measures.”
Also read: Jubilant Life Sciences wants to launch remdesivir injections in tablet form for Covid patients
Side effects of various drugs spices mentioned by experienced doctors & others are very useful information. But to make sure to the general public such should published through media by competent authorities so that public get awareness about the side effects. Regards
When modern Medicine has less specific to offer , people are bound to turn to other systems of Medicine. Excess of vit D available in 60000 units preparation can be decidedly problematic , and has to be appropriately advised. As regards Ayurvedic preparations, ingredients have been named and identified , but does and frequency less identified. Kadhas may suit well in colder climates of North India , but can precipitate gastrointestinal symptoms. Finally ,Allopathic or Ayurvedic , anything however good, if taken in excess, Carrie’s risk and harm. Moderation in medication, as much as in diet is called for in critical times.. Dr Murar Yeolekar,Mumbai.
Even medicines like tablets and injected ones have more side effects than hebs.but dont mention because you are taught to prefer tablets and injection only, is that’s why Medicines degree and proffesiomal are being called by names of ambition to create belief on graduates mind.
Let we do more research on Natural herbs and heal people even before disease. Hospitals work on emergence, I mean after disease started to produce health complications is when doctors at the hospital they start cure
What the hell do you know about doing “research” man?
You will type something into Google and believe whatever the fraudulent supplement industry will tell you on their phoney web sites.
You don’t know the head or tail of what doing research means.
Don’t ever buy a herb in a bottle. It is completely unregulated and most of the time, they don’t contain anything, mostly fillers. Nobody tests them so it is a big scam.
If you grow the herb in your backyard, its ok, at least you are getting a real herb, even if it does not work.
Too much consumption of anything cause more of disseses than usual. you media industry is more responsible for this covid fear & people overdo it for the sake of survival. Take some obligation first.
What a load of nonsense, these paid doctors to keep people stupid. Pharmaceutical companies are paying millions to spread fake news. After all it’s not in their interest to see people healthy!!!☹☹☹
So true I have never been so angry than this rubbish has made me we are being treated like fools to fill OUR SUPERIORS bank accounts. Well in the end money in not edible so good luck
I agree a bunch of B.S.
I do agree. To much vitamin D is not safe. It caused me to have vertigo. I was told to take it and I had to cut it back to 1 dosage a week. I have to check with my doctor. I was told to take vitamin D. I don’t feel comfortable taking it every night. I am so relieved after I read this article. I am 77 years old and we need articles like this. Thank you.
Oh stop, natural do help. 1 5000mg vitamin D a day will not hurt people. My doctor recommended it. You are just a voice for big pharma
Ya when it comes to ayurveda it’s impossible to give credit without disgrace. At some days doctor will also tell ….that some one got toxic due to over breathing fresh air….hehehe allopathy…god saves from this
Doctors fearing jobloss because of increasing popularity of ayurvedic and herbal products.
I agree that some people using herbal products in nonsense way. But yet they are harmless in comparison to aelopthy.
Finally looks like it’s a sponsered article by pharma company ?
University of Chicago researchers found vitamin d gave a 77% protective effect against COVID. Yes it was a retrospective observational study but still a clue to how effective the supplement can be. There is a risk to benefit ratio for every intervention. In this case there’s no risk if vitamin d is taken at the proper dosages however, there’s a greater risk of contracting COVID or having a worse case if your vitamin d deficient. It defies logic that not every government in the world is recommending vitamin d.
Payed article. ThePrint has been continuously baad mouthing herbal medicine and Ayurveda. Mashe on you people.
Paid article. ThePrint has been continuously bad-mouthing herbal medicine and Ayurveda. Mashe on you people.
Tell me about it !!! I ended up with kidney stones, due to heavy calcium and only got it this year, as last year my reports were clear
very shallow and motivated article with no sense … this is not the standard of journalism expected from this team . some of the observations are childish and totally out of place for such serious discussions .
Vit D cannot b taken as a pill.. that s th problem!! It s th light vitamin… irreplaceable!! How th World health organization has fooled humanity making quemicals a medicine.. when they havv serious side effects on liver kidneys.wtc..is th real danger……not turmeric which detoxifies th pineal gland from fluor….a poison for th brain..good luck with th WHO..pharma..th politician s agenda… planning this scamdemic
Experts in English medicine always say that natural products are not useful. I really want to know what the doctor is eating during this time. First release a statement of what to eat and should not be countered by other specialists. Politician and doctor are hand in hand about the data release and blame each other afterwards. Leave it to the people and they can decide what they want.
Masses of emotionally unsecure people with no scientific or critical thinking abilities, everyone trying to be or following a so called or self proclaimed Himalayan pseudoscientist (Therapist) , sorry to say but this is what happens when pseudoscience is given more importance than real science. Need of hour for the nation to grow appetite for it or else we as a nation won’t be any better than Chinese Communist regime and people. We have such wonderful talented people and means but not a proper platform to reach masses at once. Thank you for this article
Whatever u mentioned through this article makes sense….but instead of just pointing out error if the doctors who were consulted should have also told about the right amount of dosage for the benefit of everyone who read this .Kindly The Print can follow such practice for upgrading it’s standard of publishing.
Sensible journalism. Thanks for the article.
There is no scientific study that shows kadha is effective for Covid disease. The immune system is very complex, immunity is not well understood and studies with herbs like ginger,turmeric, tulsi and supplements like vitamin C vitamin D – the scientific studies are not conclusive enough to prove that one can withstand Covid if these are taken.
Govt should have advised public to consult their ayush and allopathic doctors for any prevention measures. Their public advisories unfortunately caused people to self-medicate themselves.
Many doctors threaten the patients to take certain medicines for life long will not affect their other systems in the body A cardiologist recommended certain medicines to consume continuously failing which my life will end who are there to fix the date even after giving up such medicines I am surviving All pharmaceutical mafias behind the medical professionals running the drug industry healthily No one is ready to find proper medicine for covid19 till their coffers overflow
Follow the money. For pharma companies, a life long prescription is a life-long cashflow. What is better way to ensure profitability than that?
What about any comments from ayurvedic doctors and I’d ayush dept has said about kadha, so is it fair to call ayush doctors quack even if they are telling there patients to have certain herbs is this a fair content to directly call any body quack if patients are taking these quantities of herb by there own then they are responsible not ayush doctors so writer should cover up what’s been wrong for ayush doctors even writers mom advices her to take pinch of haldi or dhaniya in her diet
I agree witb you Shubham. Pharmaceutical Companies are spreading the rumors that Ayuvedic/ home remedies are harmful. These are used since thousands of years.
Thanks to the Print for publishing such a revealing article. Your science writers are doing a fine job of finding the right stories to tell the public. We need more of such science journalism in the Indian context.
There is no proof even. dr. Recommaned daily one d vitamin ta
In the name of giving expert opinion many media are becoming mouth piece for vested interests . Typically some professionals in the field would be approached and asked some loaded questions , and a vague or a non committal answers would be given a impactful headlines .
Paid media news is the biggest menace more deadlier than COVID 19 .
Yes we have to take everything with a pinch of salt. Must study the chemical components and then add it to our consumption. Overdose of anything is toxic to the body. However we need to understand our household remedies and learn and promote it with proper understanding and knowledge,not blindly. We need to respect our heritage and learn about it. Half baked knowledge is the most dangerous thing.
Very disappointed in this article! Nature is the best medicine. Ofcourse all in proportion and there would be no adverse reactions as with anything in life. Yellow eyes from Turmeric…. Hmmmm I’m guessing the guy was still healthy… his eyes were yellow…. and a doctor should be able to analyse based on other methods to discover bilirubin measure as I believe it was. Stop the boycott of our Natural Ayurvedic Treatments which have been handed down to is by our dear ancestors!!
Well it is not weather you take any medicine or boosters it is the truth that the body gets rejunevated in a course of time but to protect from any disease one needs to follow a systematic lifestyle and use of proper food. Drinking pure water (not filtered mineral packaged water nowadays it’s a practice) and eating normal food and moderate physical activities even excessive workouts of any kind including yoga is not good and finally good mindset is most important
I do agree with mr Shubham Rajput This article is seems to be sponsored by pharma companies
Good Infirmation but more details about what each immunity booster mentioned here their side effects are will be more useful . Thanks
Stupid people… modi told people to consume kadhas for boosting immunity…nog to be eaten or taken like food. QUANTITY MATTERS. Don’t blame GOVT. Waise to ghar se bahar nahi nikalna aisa bhi bola tha Modiji ne…to ye baat kyu nahi suni logo ne?
Moderation of immunity boosters whether Ayurvedic/ homeopathic or homemade is the message by our ancestors. Further people have to take natural vitamin D from Sun, vitamin C from fruits and not in form of pills. Exercise a bit and change your lifestyle from lethargic internet dominating to nature loving.
Media should not be biased against Ayurveda or Allopathy as well as against any political person. Media got freedom of expression n speech, so does PM have and people have.
DONT OVERDO AND DONT OVERACT.
WhatsApp university is producing idiots in droves. Instead of banning games, government should ban this scourge.
It is very sad to read this article from Print. I expected it to be truthful! Half of the article is about vitamin D overdose, but the main picture does not shoe Vitamin D at all .
It talks about doctors complaining that people are taking herbs to ward off Covid-19 but other than 1 instance of blood thinning due to fenugreek, there does not seem to be any serious side effect mentioned in the article.
It sounds like a deliberate effort to show this through tainted lens
No government has asked to take overdosage. It is the foolishness of people who in the fear of avoiding covid-19 have taken such high dosages. I would blame media the most. In the pretext of presenting the situation as it is, they have induced so much fear among public in general. Now we stopped watching news altogether. Having some peace of mind staying away from the negative talk.
And one should always remember the ancient adage – “athi sarvathra varjayeth” whether it is negative talk of the media or the overdosage of natural remedies.
It is very sad to read this article from Print. I expected it to be truthful! Half of the article is about vitamin D overdose, but the main picture does not shoe Vitamin D at all .
It talks about doctors complaining that people are taking herbs to ward off Covid-19 but other than 1 instance of blood thinning due to fenugreek, there does not seem to be any serious side effect mentioned in the article.
It sounds like a deliberate effort to show this through tainted lens
No offence to any kind of medicinal study but on personal level I don’t trust homeopathy or Ayurveda. Concoctions such as Giloi, Ashwagandha, kadha n immunity booster supplement are selling all over . Moreover everyone is suggesting some or the other recipes for quick immunity booster . There is a need for fact check by professionals .
What is the authenticity of the article? Is it another sponsored article by the powerful and mighty pharmaceutical industry who does not want alternative medicines to help people stay healthy. Isolated cases that did not follow proper dosages or had underlying issues cannot be quoted to malign an entire body of medicine or any government. Who is gonna talk about over dosage of allopathy and mindless placebos that are prescribed to keep the pharma companies going? Does not allopathy cause major side effects to human organs with long term usage and overdosing.
So true. and it’s such a shame that some Indians are bashing ayurveda the born hindu teachings the heart of India. Ayurveda is respected and practiced in the western world of herbal medicine. It is appreciated there. It is admired and praised .Indians don’t know what they have and Indian drs. Have lost their way and traditions forgotten. What a shame. They hv been sold.
People are ignorant about side effects.Due to fear cyosis they are invariably consuming these immunity boosters as claimed.
Government agency should not promote even if they should also mention about to take with cautious and talk about side effects.
Where do you get this type of all opinions and articles just relax a bit and try to understand people need to need to learn something not to hate must be given some moderate balance leave I’m sorry for telling all this things
Any medicine or immune boosters has to be taken under guidance. If some one consumes overly ( be it Ayurveda, homeopathy or allopathy) it’s mistake of the person not the science.
Like a lot of reporting currently, this is rather irresponsible reporting.
The headline is designed for grabbing attention. Let us look at what they say inside…
–
“The patient had seen messages on social media on how vitamin D may help in building immunity against Covid-19. But instead of the recommended dose of one pill a week, she consumed one a day,” Dr Lathia told ThePrint.
High vitamin D levels can spike blood and urine calcium levels which, in turn, can cause nausea, vomiting, dehydration, dizziness, confusion, and drowsiness among other changes.
“Vitamin D in blood levels greater than 150 ng/ml can cause all these symptoms reflecting toxicity. My patient had a level of 348 ng/ml but luckily did not suffer any consequences,” she said.
–
Now look at this.
1. The patient takes a 7 times the dose. What will happen if I try to drink 7 times my water quota for the day? 7*5=35 litres in 1 day? So, is not water then poison? The DOSE is the poison.
2. What are the overdose problems? Compare to getting Bradykinin / Cytokine storm? What are the overdose problems of remdesivir? In fact, what are the problems with proper dosed remdesivir? I’ll find you details on that. The whole stress by the media seems to make Covid-19 something that requires Martial Law!
3. How long did she consume the overdose? I am sure it was beyond the 6 weeks that is the recommended period with 60,000 IU tabs.
4. How available are doctors helping people to take the right protocol for the right time period?
5. Even at 348ng/ml, the patient faced no consequences. I can bet that the typical median Vit D levels currently in Indian population is likely to be 15-25 ng/ml, unless they are manual labourers, or supplementing.
6. I have been supplementing for a year, and I had not even reached 50 when I got Covid.
So, EVERYTHING, including food, water and air is poison when the dose is exceeded.
Well said. I totally agree with you post.
My own experience is that an overdose of vitamin D can cause vertigo.
Olden days, plp used to take these natural stuff and they were healthy for years. Now in the name of diets, life styles we screw up health and when we go to hospitals, they tend to do research on our body and make the patient panic. Felt this should again be a scam of corporate hospitals on deviating people!
Rather than circulating half cooked info through various media, there should be a clear guidance to common man with DOs &DONTs for their consuming any medication without medical supervision. People are panicked due to the pandemic and tent to look for any preventive measures as immunity booster. So there has to be clear directives from Ministry of health what common man can use as immunity booster through any format of medicine. Apart from these directives there should be clear warning to patients with diabetes, blood pressure, heart ailments etc to use such immunity boosters of any form strictly under medical advice. It’s obvious that common man will look for all type of alternative to save their lives, hence a clear and loud announcement through all media will definitely save many.
Anything in overdose can cause problem including politics by both ruling and opposition. Our health and safety is in our hand neither Modi or Rahul or any one else can say speak, what they want as if there is any problem for them , there would be many, but ordinary and poor people we have to take care of ourselves. Let’s follow harmless precautions and be moderate and avoid going overboard. Let us not put the blame on article. One Mr Rajput assumes that it is paid article, let him investigate and prove. The news portals are forum for sharing news and information which we should take with a pinch of salt.
The problem does not lie with the products, but in consuming them in immoderate doses and without following instructions. Even allopathy medicines would cause harm if taken without consideration of prescribed doses. Kadhas are usually made according to prescribed measures of the ingredients and are to be taken in moderation. Too much of a good thing may be quite bad after all.
This article is a new low & cheap attempt by allopathic medical syndicate to downgrade ayuveda / alternate medical system.
Everyone must avoid overdose of anything whether preventive or curative.
Agreed. These ‘medical experts’ will not come out in media and mention about real side effects of taking Allopathic medicines in ‘recommended’ doses, let alone in excess doses.
Those who talk about the ill effects of turmeric, aloe vers, fenugreek etc are the paid lobbyists of allopsthic drug manufacturers and their comments should be treated with contempt.
Then, why this BJP govt. headed by Modi asked the people to take these home remedies ?? This is most criminal offence as they have misled the people by propagating the natural herbs uses thus endangering the lives of people ??? What a falsification of medical guidance by BJP !!! Horrible !!!
Modi ji didn’t ask you to over do anything . All herbs have chemicals in them . So much research done on turmeric & ginger by modern science proves their efficacy . Whenever you take any concoction … take in right amount right doses .
Govt. never said to use any Herbs like nonsense. It’s quite obvious that any stuff which is supposed to use for balanced growth , should not be use as per one’s choice. And if anyone does so he can’t blame anyone else for his mistake. ???
Ayush ministry must be responsible and not issue statements that can cause people to self-medicate. General public thinks Ayush is safe. It is just a false perception.
Even supplements like Vitamin D can be toxic at higher doses. High doses of Vitamin C can cause side effects. The public has no clue. They self-medicate on supplements based on claims made in social media,TV and the internet. They should take such supplements only on the advice of a doctor. It is the responsibility of Doctors to prescribe dosages that are based on scientific studies.
Do not defame ayurved , if someone does not proper knowledge abdtakes overdose of ayurvedic medicine and gave a side effect. It does not neans ayurved is bad
This article must be inspected by the authorities. It should be checked whether what is being said about the side-effects of the ayurvedic products are that severe. If yes, then the public must be told about this. If no, then an explanation is due whether the article was sponsored by the pharmaceuticals trying to undermine the value of ayurvedic herbs and remedies. In any way, the truth should be sought.
If you ask ayurveda guy he’ll squash it. If you’ll ask a allopathy guy he’ll support it. The article is very balanced. It even mentions that overdoing allopathy supplements is bad. The point is over doing of everything is bad. Even too much ginger or turmeric is bad. Take precautions. Be it Ayurvedic or Allopathic. Just don’t do over if it.
The article is balnced Sir. It talk about how over doing of both Vitamin Supplements or Ayurvedic medicines is bad. The point is take precautions but don’t over do it. That can be risky. Too much supplements, turmeric or ginger have side effects.
Proper quantities, they will not make any harm. Because of fear psychosis,some people take too much. Actually, who is the culprit. Those people who made fear in people’s mind.If you have too much any thing, even if it’s elixir it’s poisonous.
so this is how the INDIAN FOOD will be LABELLED DANGEROUS & the pizza/burger/gaye ka meat will be called HEALTHY FOOD along with the chocolates, pies. pasta etc