保健产品的猫腻多多

Nearly two-thirds of American adults take dietary supplements, a broad category that includes vitamins, minerals and herbal products, according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition, an industry trade group. The most commonly used include multivitamins, calcium and omega-3, the group says. Allegedly natural over-the-counter treatments that promise to melt pounds, build muscle or boost energy are also widely used.
根据美国行业组织“可靠营养品协会”(Council for Responsible Nutrition)的统计，近三分之二的美国成年人每日服用膳食补充剂，其范围很广，包括维他命、矿物质和草本植物提取产品等，最常见的是多元维生素、钙片和深海鱼油(omega-3)。服用那些据称有减肥、增肌或健体功能的非处方类自然保健品的人也很多。

Most supplements are consumed without raising safety concerns. Still, the products are much less closely scrutinized than drugs, which are tested extensively and must win FDA approval before going on the market. Supplements that are made from products that were on the U.S. market before 1994 -- as most commonplace ones are -- can be sold without being reviewed by the FDA beforehand. Companies that include newer substances are supposed to inform the agency before they go on the market, but don't have to wait for approval.
大多数保健品在服用过程中并未发生安全问题，不过，对保健品的安全监管力度要比对药物小得多。药物在上市销售前，必须经过反复的临床试验，并通过美国食品与药物管理局(FDA)的批准；而使用1994年前在美国市场销售产品制成的保健品─绝大多数都是这种情况─不必经过FDA事先批准就能公开销售。如使用1994年后面世的新物质制作保健品，应在上市前向FDA报备，但不必等批准结果出来就能销售。

Consumer advocates have long called for tougher rules. Officials at the Council for Responsible Nutrition say no new laws are needed, citing new FDA manufacturing standards for supplements, which are now being phased in, as well as a requirement for supplement makers to tell the FDA when they get reports of serious side effects, which took effect at the end of 2007.
消费者保护组织长期以来一直在呼吁对保健品采取更严格的安全监管规则。可靠营养品协会的官员称，不需为此制定新的法律，因为FDA对保健品制定了新的生产标准，并已开始分阶段实施，自2007年底开始，还要求制造商在收到产品服用过程中出现严重副作用的报告后，及时向FDA通报。

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee plans a hearing this month focused on dietary-supplement safety. FDA officials say they are boosting their enforcement efforts, but it is a challenge to oversee the large and fast-growing supplement industry. 'We do the best we can with the resources we have available,' says Janet Woodcock, the head of the FDA's drug center. 'Consumers have to be vigilant as well.'
美国参议院司法委员会(Senate Judiciary)的相关小组委员会计划本月举行一场关于膳食补充剂的听证会。FDA官员表示，他们正在加大执法力度，但要对市场规模如此巨大且发展如此迅速的保健品行业进行监管，难度是很大的。“我们将充份利用现有的资源尽力而为，”FDA药品中心的负责人简妮特.伍德考克(Janet Woodcock)说，“但消费者自己也得多留心。”

Since last December, the FDA has issued warnings about more than 70 weight-loss supplements that included potentially dangerous ingredients. The ingredients included prescription drugs, and the agency said the side effects could include seizure, heart attack and stroke. In July, the FDA warned consumers to avoid bodybuilding supplements that claimed to contain steroid-like ingredients, but actually included steroids. The agency, which issued a general warning but also named some specific brand names, said it had received reports of men with serious liver injuries, stroke, kidney failure and pulmonary embolism potentially linked to such products.
从2008年12月起，FDA已对超过70种含有潜在危险成分的减肥保健品发出警告，这些成分包括处方类药物成份等。FDA说，服用这些保健品可能引发癫痫、心脏病和中风等副作用。 2009年7月，FDA警告消费者不要服用那些声称含有类固醇替代物质、而实际上就是类固醇物质的健身保健品。FDA发布的是一个全面警告，但也列举了一些保健品的品牌；该组织称，他们收到一些报告，有些人在服用此类保健品后，出现严重的肝功能损伤、中风、肾衰竭和肺栓塞等病症。

People who want to take a supplement should talk to a doctor, says Travis Tygart, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a noNPRofit that oversees drug-testing of American Olympic hopefuls and some other top athletes. He says he advises athletes that they take all supplements at their own risk.
希望服用保健品的人应该向医生咨询意见，美国反兴奋剂机构(U.S. Anti-Doping Agency)的首席执行官泰加特(Travis Tygart)说道。这是一个非营利组织，负责对美国有希望参加奥运会的选手以及其他一流运动员进行兴奋剂检测工作。泰加特说，他建议运动员审慎服用所有保健品，并自行承担相应的风险。

Along with talking to a physician, people can do their own research. Many herbs have been tested in major studies and shown no benefits. Some have been linked to side effects, even without the presence of undisclosed drugs. A 2007 article by a National Institutes of Health researcher in the journal Clinics in Liver Disease listed comfrey, chaparral and kava among other herbs potentially tied to liver damage.
除了向医生咨询，人们还可以自己做一点研究工作。有一些大型调查对草本植物提取物做过测试，发现其中很多根本就没有保健作用，有些甚至存在未知原因的副作用。2007年，美国国家卫生研究院(National Institutes of Health)的研究人员在《肝病临床》 (Clinics in Liver Disease)杂志上发表一篇文章，称紫草科植物、小榭树和醉椒(kava)等草本植物可能会导致肝功能损伤。

Before they take a supplement, consumers should also check for potential interactions between any herb, vitamin or mineral and their prescriptions. They should also be particularly sensitive if they have existing health issues. For instance, those with heart conditions should be careful about supplements that act as stimulants, which can involve ingredients such as bitter orange and guarana, in addition to caffeine.
在服用保健品前，消费者应查看其成份，并检查草本植物提取物、维他命或矿物质之间是否可能产生化学反应。患有疾病的人群服用保健品时要尤其注意，比如说，有心脏病的人在服用有兴奋作用的保健品时要当心，因为里头不但有咖啡因成份，还可能含有枳壳(bitter orange)和瓜拉那(Guarana)等物质。

Consumers should closely read the ingredients. Potentially dangerous substances often won't be disclosed. But sometimes they are -- if you know what to look for. One step is to look for drugs banned for top athletes, or variations on those names. The World Anti-Doping Agency list is at www.wada-ama.org under 'Resources for Athletes.' Certain suffixes in chemical names are common for steroids or tweaked versions of them. Among them are -one, -ene, -iol and -bol, though these can also appear in the names of legitimate ingredients. Some products also use versions of steroid names in their brands, like 'tren' to connote trenbolone.
消费者应仔细阅读保健品的成份说明，潜在的危险物质往往不会明确地标示出来，但如果你知道怎么找，有时就会发现它们的踪迹。有一种方式是查找禁止职业运动员服用的药物名称及其代名词，其清单可以在世界反兴奋剂机构(World Anti-Doping Agency)网站上(www.wada-ama.org)的“运动员资源”(Resources for Athletes)项下找到。类固醇及其代名字的英文名称中含有特定的后缀，如-one、-ene、-iol和-bol；当然，合法药物成份中也可能含有此类后缀。一些产品还会在其品牌中出现类固醇的部分代名词，如品牌中有英文'tren'，则暗示产品含有“群勃龙”(trenbolone)这种合成类固醇物质。

But consumers shouldn't necessarily feel secure just because a product doesn't set off warning bells. Kicker Vencill, 31, a former competitive swimmer who is now a lifeguard living in Santa Monica, Calif., flunked an athletic drug test several years ago and claimed it was due to a dietary supplement. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that, as Mr. Vencill argued, a multivitamin that he took contained banned steroids, it was the supplement that caused him to fail the test, and that he didn't know the capsules contained drugs. But he was still suspended from competition for two years.
然而，即使没有在成份表中看到危险物质，消费者也不能掉以轻心。31岁的温西尔(Kicker Vencill)以前是位游泳健将，现在在加州的Santa Monica市当救生员。几年前，他在一次兴奋剂检测中被查出有问题，而他说那是因为服用了一种膳食补充剂。国际体育仲裁院(The Court of Arbitration for Sport)的判决认同温西尔的观点，说他服用的多种维生素片中含有违禁的类固醇物质。正是这种保健品导致他未能通过兴奋剂检测，而他本人并不知道维生素片里有类固醇。不过，温西尔还是被禁赛两年。

'The last one that I thought would be the culprit was the multivitamin,' Mr. Vencill says. A spokesman for Ultimate Nutrition Inc., which made the multivitamin, had no comment.
温西尔说：“我怎么也想不到，多种维生素片会是罪魁祸首。”生产该种维生素片的马力伟公司(Ultimate Nutrition Inc.)的发言人对此不予置评。

Finally, people should watch carefully for any symptoms that start after they take a new supplement. Among the warning signs cited by the FDA in its public-health advisory on products that may contain steroids are nausea, weakness or fatigue, fever, abdominal pain, chest pain, shortness of breath, yellow corneas and skin, and discolored urine. Most of those are signs of liver or heart problems.
最后一点，人们应该小心观察自己在服用新的保健品后有什么不适。FDA在其发布的公共卫生警告中称，如服用含有类固醇成份的保健品，将可能出现恶心、疲劳虚弱、发烧、腹痛、胸痛、气短、眼角膜和皮肤发黄，以及尿变色等不良症状，其中大多数都是肝和心脏出现问题的征兆。