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A 22-year long study done by UCLA’s research team concluded that doctor-patient conversations in American medical facilities show a surprising lack of discussions on vitamins and dietary supplements, despite the large percentage of the American population consuming vitamins and supplements.

The UCLA research team analyzed 1,477 audio recordings taped during patient visits to 102 different doctors providing primary care between 1998 and 2010.

The results showed that doctors rarely talked to the patients about the supplements or vitamins they were taking, even though consuming certain vitamins while taking prescription medication may have adverse effects. 

America’s trending health obsession has helped build a 60 billion dollar industry for vitamins and dietary supplements designed to provide essential nutrients convenient for busy lifestyles or unhealthy diets.

According to a 2011 research report done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over half of the American population's diet includes vitamin and dietary supplements as a part of their daily intake, which is roughly around 110 million people.

Multivitamins, fitness supplements, and other similar products are usually marketed as dietary solutions with all-natural ingredients packing some sort of guaranteed benefit while being perfectly compatible with the human body. 

Average consumers often take vitamins and supplements at face value, basing their buying decisions on brand reputations or peer recommendations, and for the most part this method works.

However, even though common vitamins or supplements do not cause damage to health by themselves, the positive effects of both substances may be negated, or even worse cause harmful chemical interactions.

For example, a medicine named Lipitor commonly prescribed by American doctors to lower cholesterol levels in their patients, but Lipitor does not mix well with Vitamin E. In fact, Lipitor can block the benefits of Vitamin E, and vice versa.

Read more about it at the Huffington Post here. 

The researchers urge future studies to look at the effect doctor-patient discussions have on consumer decisions towards vitamins and supplements.

“A better understanding about these relationships could inform future interventions to enhance physician patient communication about dietary supplements,” the UCLA researchers report.

Reach Staff Reporter Benjamin Li here.