Doctor Lopatin: taking large amounts of dietary supplements leads to the development of hepatitis

Excessive consumption of dietary supplements can lead to the development of dietary supplement-induced hepatitis of the liver, disruption of the outflow of bile and its stagnation, Sergei Lopatin, a general practitioner, gastroenterologist, hepatologist, and preventive medicine doctor at the SM-Clinic in St. Petersburg, told Gazeta.Ru.

“Doctors increasingly have to deal with patients who take 20–25 different dietary supplements on an ongoing basis. This is not an exaggeration, but a real fact from personal practice. Abuse harms the entire body, with the liver at particular risk. This is the main filter of the human body, which is responsible for cleansing the body of harmful toxic compounds. The liver also processes excess organic compounds, including those trace elements and plant extracts contained in dietary supplements. Thus, uncontrolled intake of supplements forces the liver to work at its limit,” said the doctor.

The toxic effects of the active components destroy hepatocytes – liver cells, due to which the organ gradually loses its ability to perform its functions normally.

“Frequent complications also include impaired bile outflow and cholestasis – its stagnation in the bile ducts. The most dangerous consequence is drug-induced hepatitis – inflammatory liver damage caused by taking medications. Today, doctors identify a separate subtype of this disease – dietary supplement-induced hepatitis, which is associated precisely with the use of a large number of supplements,” the doctor noted.

Symptoms of drug-induced liver damage appear gradually. First, a person experiences fatigue, bouts of nausea and loss of appetite. As the disease progresses, possible skin rashes, yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, darkening of urine and light-colored feces, pain in the right side.