Although she eventually recovered, she was close to needing a liver transplant.

A 57-year-old woman spent six days in the hospital for severe liver damage after taking daily megadoses of the popular herbal supplement, turmeric, which she had seen touted on social media, according to NBC News.

The woman, Katie Mohan, told the outlet that she had seen a doctor on Instagram suggesting it was useful against inflammation and joint pain. So, she began taking turmeric capsules at a dose of 2,250 mg per day. According to the World Health Organization, an acceptable daily dose is up to 3 mg per kilogram of weight per day—for a 150-pound (68 kg) adult, that would be about 204 mg per day. Mohan was taking more than 10 times that amount.

  • Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
    61·
    1 day ago

    Thank you for doing that. I found this out first thing in the morning and am now on my first work break, I hope I would have figured this out eventually but it was bothering me already today. My workmate had the rational thought “it’s got to be a factor of 10 difference or something, you should reread the label when you get home.”

    But again, thanks, now I have a little peace in my head until I can do some more research. I poison my liver with alcohol. I don’t need extra help…

    As for why I take it, I was instructed to by my family doctor as well as my (far more trusted and who I’ve known far longer) Massage therapist, who explicitly said “I can’t legally tell you to take supplements because laws and such, but go ask your doctor about x,y,z.” Which I did.

    • astutemural@midwest.socialEnglish
      31·
      23 hours ago

      Massage therapists aren’t licensed. Do not take medical advice from them. They know exactly as much about medicine as your plumber.

      • Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
        32·
        23 hours ago

        Massage therapists are fully licenced where I live (Canada) They are not, however, licenced to give advice about supplements. Which is why she told me to go to my doctor. But since she went to school for years and takes annual courses to keep up to date on human bodies and how they function, and she spends every day of her life literally hands on hundreds of different human bodies for the past 25 years so far, I’d say she has a much better grasp on how supplements affect people than my plumber, if I had a plumber.