Health Products for Seniors: 'Anti-Aging' Products Pose Potential for Physical and Economic Harm

摘要

We were asked to examine (1) whether there is evidence that anti-aging and alternative medicine products, particularly dietary supplements aimed at conditions of aging, cause physical harm to senior citizens; (2) whether there is evidence that questionable anti-aging and alternative medicine products cause economic harm to senior citizens; and (3) federal and state oversight efforts to protect consumers from questionable anti-aging and alternative medicine products. To address these questions, we obtained documents from and interviewed officials with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), state Attorneys General (AG) offices, and state health departments, as well as representatives of the dietary supplement industry and other interested organizations and experts. We also reviewed the scientific literature on dietary supplements and other products marketed as anti-aging therapies. Our work focused primarily on those products that purport to have anti-aging properties or which claim to address chronic diseases and conditions common among senior citizens, such as cancer, memory loss, and arthritis.