"Natural" supplements caused cancer in 2 men: study
研究发现:“天然”补品可引起肿瘤
Two men seeking to boost sexual performance and grow bigger muscles instead ended up with advanced prostate cancer after taking "herbal" supplements, U.S. doctors reported.
据美国医生报道,两名男性为了提高性能力、增加肌肉而服用草药补品,结果却患上了晚期前列腺癌。
They said many supplements marketed as "safe" and "natural" could contain unknown and potentially dangerous ingredients, and noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has little authority to regulate them.
他们说许多打着“安全”和“天然”旗号的补品里可能含有一些未知的、具有危险性的成份,并且解释说美国食品药品监督管理局对此类产品无权管理。
"Physicians need to ask their patients not only about the pre????ion drugs they may be taking, but -- perhaps even more importantly -- about the over-the-counter drugs and supplements, which may have a profound impact on certain health conditions," Dr. Claus Roehrborn, chairman of urology at the University of Texas Southwestern medical school, said in a statement.
“医生们应当不仅只询问病人他们在服用什么处方药,还应该询问他们服用非处方药和补品的情况,而后者可能有着更重要的意义,因为它们可对人体健康产生巨大的影响。” Claus Roehrborn博士在一份声明中说,他是得克萨斯大学西南医学院的泌尿外科主任。
Roehrborn's team became concerned about what they call herbal/hormonal dietary supplements, or HHDSs, after two men developed aggressive and incurable prostate cancer within months of taking the same supplement.
Roehrborn团队是在两名男性因服用同样的补品数月而罹患侵袭性难治性前列腺癌后而对这一问题开始关注的,他们称之为草药/激素食补,简称HHDSs。
They analyzed the product, which they did not name for legal reasons, and found it contained two hormones -- testosterone and estradiol. When they tested it on tumor cells in the lab, they found it fueled the growth of prostate cancer cells more potently than testosterone alone, they reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
他们对这一产品(出于法律方面的考虑,没有指出产品名称)进行了分析化验,结果发现产品中含有两种激素—睾酮和雌二醇。当在实验室中用该产品在肿瘤细胞中进行试验时,他们发现与单独使用睾酮相比,该产品能更有力的促进前列腺癌细胞的生长。他们在《临床肿瘤研究》杂志上报道了这一研究。
"We filed an adverse event report with the FDA who issued a warning letter. The manufacturer responded by removing this HHDS product from the market," the researchers wrote.
“我们向FDA进行了不良反应报告,随后FDA发出了一封警示信。而生产商随后做出反应,将这一HHDS产品撤出市场。”研究者们在文章中写道。
"Individuals use HHDS for self-improvement, failure or distrust of conventional medicine, and because they believe that, these natural products are safe and drug-free," they wrote.
“使用HHDS的人往往是为了增强体质、不信任或使用常规药物无效,因为他们认为这些天然产品是安全的,且不含有任何药品成份。”他们写道。
The researchers searched Web sites promoting such products and found they promised "'fountain of youth,' maintenance of a 'youthful' heart, relief of stress, and improvements in mood disturbances, stamina, energy, strength and virility."
研究者们搜索了此类产品的宣传网站,发现它们往往宣称可以让人“焕发青春”、保持一颗年轻的心、缓解压力、舒缓心情、增加精力并加强男子气概。
The patients, a 67-year-old white man and a 51-year-old black man, have both survived but have extensive cancer that has spread throughout their bodies.
两位病人,一位67岁的白人男性和一位51岁的黑人男性,目前都尚在人间,但却患上了晚期肿瘤并已扩散到全身。
"Unlike pre????ion and over-the-counter drugs, the law does not require nutritional supplements to undergo pre-market approval for safety and efficacy," the researchers wrote.
‘与处方及非处方药不同,法律并没有要求营养补品在上市前通过安全和有效性检验。“研究者们写道。
"The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act in 1994 (DSHEA) allows HHDS manufacturers to assume the sole responsibility for ensuring the effectiveness and safety of their products. Thus, the current Food Drug Administration regulatory system provides little oversight or assurance that HHDS will have predictable pharmacological effects or even that product labels provide accurate information to consumers."
“1994年颁布的《食补卫生与教育法令》(DSHEA)允许HHDS生产商独自对他们产品的安全性和有效性进行检验。因而目前的食品药品监管体系就不能保证HHDS能有预期的药效,甚至不能保证这些产品标签里包含的信息对消费者来说是真实可靠的。”