This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Related letter  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Neurology  • Neurotoxicology  • Complementary and Alternative Medicine  • World Health  • Public Health, Other  • Drug Therapy  • Adverse Effects  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: Dr Saper and colleagues¹ found that approximately 20% of Ayurvedic products sold over the Internet contained heavy metals, and the metal content was higher among a subgroup of products classified as rasa shastra. Although the efforts to establish that metal content in these products may potentially present a public health hazard are important, we caution against their policy conclusion: "We suggest strictly enforced, government-mandated daily dose limits for toxic metals in all dietary supplements and requirements that all manufacturers demonstrate compliance through independent third-party testing."

Metals used in authentic Ayurvedic medicines go through a process of conversion of metals into their mixed oxides that may destroy their toxicity and induce their medicinal properties.² Further research is necessary to evaluate whether the medicines studied by Saper et al contain elevated metal content or are harmful when properly prepared and administered. If 20% of authentic Ayurvedic product content . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE
jun.mao@uphs.upenn.edu
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Philadelphia

Krupali Desai, MD (Ayurveda)
Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Lead, Mercury, and Arsenic in US- and Indian-Manufactured Ayurvedic Medicines Sold via the Internet
Robert B. Saper, Russell S. Phillips, Anusha Sehgal, Nadia Khouri, Roger B. Davis, Janet Paquin, Venkatesh Thuppil, and Stefanos N. Kales
JAMA. 2008;300(8):915-923.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED LETTER

Metal Content in Ayurvedic Medicines—Reply
Robert B. Saper, Stefanos N. Kales, and Venkatesh Thuppil
JAMA. 2009;301(3):272.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT