Latest news with #nerveDamage
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Too much vitamin B6 can be toxic. 3 symptoms to watch out for
Side effects from taking too much vitamin B6 – including nerve damage – may be more widespread than we think, Australia's medicines regulator says. In an ABC report earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) says it may have underestimated the extent of the side effects from vitamin B6 supplements. However, there are proposals to limit sales of high-dose versions due to safety concerns. A pathologist who runs a clinic that tests vitamin B6 in blood samples from across Australia also appeared on the program. He told the ABC that data from May suggests 4.5% of samples tested had returned results 'very likely' indicating nerve damage. So what are vitamin B6 supplements? How can they be toxic? And which symptoms do you need to watch out for? Vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, plays an important role in keeping the body healthy. It is involved in the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in food. It is also important for the production of neurotransmitters – chemical messengers in the brain that maintain its function and regulate your mood. Vitamin B6 also supports the immune system by helping to make antibodies, which fight off infections. And it is needed to produce haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. Some women take a vitamin B6 supplement when pregnant. It is thought this helps reduce the nausea associated with the early stages of pregnancy. Some women also take it to help with premenstrual syndrome. However, most people don't need, and won't benefit from, a vitamin B6 supplement. That's because you get enough vitamin B6 from your diet through meat, breakfast cereal, fruit and vegetables. You don't need much. A dose of 1.3–1.7 milligrams a day is enough for most adults. Currently, vitamin B6 supplements with a daily dose of 5–200mg can be sold over the counter at health food stores, supermarkets and pharmacies. Because of safety concerns, the TGA is proposing limiting their sale to pharmacies, and only after consultation with a pharmacist. Daily doses higher than 200mg already need a doctor's prescription. So under the proposal that would stay the same. If you take too much vitamin B6, in most cases the excess will be excreted in your urine and most people won't experience side effects. But there is a growing concern about long-time, high-dose use. A side effect the medical community is worried about is peripheral neuropathy – where there is damage to the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. This results in pain, numbness or weakness, usually in your hands and feet. We don't yet know exactly how this happens. In most reported cases, these symptoms disappear once you stop taking the supplement. But for some people it may take three months to two years before they feel completely better. There is growing, but sometimes contradictory, evidence that high doses (more than 50mg a day) for extended periods can result in serious side effects. A study from the 1990s followed 70 patients for five years who took a dose of 100 to 150mg a day. There were no reported cases of neuropathy. But more recent studies show high rates of side effects. A 2023 case report provides details of a man who was taking multiple supplements. This resulted in a daily combined 95mg dose of vitamin B6, and he experienced neuropathy. Another report describes seven cases of neuropathy linked to drinking energy drinks containing vitamin B6. Reports to the TGA's database of adverse events notifications (a record of reported side effects) shows 174 cases of neuropathy linked with vitamin B6 use since 2023. The current advice is that someone who takes a dose of 50mg a day or more, for more than six months, should be monitored by a health-care professional. So if you regularly take vitamin B6 supplements you should discuss continued use with your doctor or pharmacist. There are three side effects to watch out for, the first two related to neuropathy: numbness or pain in the feet and hands difficulty with balance and coordination as a result of muscle weakness heartburn and nausea. If you have worrying side effects after taking vitamin B6 supplements, contact your state's poison information centre on 13 11 26 for advice. This article is republished from The Conversation. It was written by: Nial Wheate, Macquarie University and Slade Matthews, University of Sydney Read more: Does eating cheese before bed really give you nightmares? Here's what the science says How should I talk to my kids about abuse and body safety? Lung cancer screening hopes to save lives. But we also need to watch for possible harms Nial Wheate in the past has received funding from the ACT Cancer Council, Tenovus Scotland, Medical Research Scotland, Scottish Crucible, and the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance. He is a fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Nial is the chief scientific officer of Vaihea Skincare LLC, a director of SetDose Pty Ltd (a medical device company) and was previously a Standards Australia panel member for sunscreen agents. He is a member of the Haleon Australia Pty Ltd Pain Advisory Board. Nial regularly consults to industry on issues to do with medicine risk assessments, manufacturing, design and testing. Slade Matthews provides scientific evaluations to the Therapeutic Goods Administration as a member of the Therapeutic Goods Assessment and Advisory Panel. Slade serves on the NSW Poisons Advisory Committee for NSW Health as the minister-nominated pharmacologist appointed by the Governor of NSW.
ABC News
02-07-2025
- Health
- ABC News
TGA concedes it failed to prevent growing number of blood toxicity cases attributed to Vitamin B6
Australia's medicines regulator has conceded its laws have failed to slow a growing number of blood toxicity cases attributed to a common over-the-counter vitamin. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) also admitted some associated effects — including irreversible nerve damage — are a bigger problem than the agency first realised. "The [legislation] changes from a few years ago, we've seen, were not sufficient to reduce the rate of the level of toxicity from B6," the department's chief medical advisor Professor Robyn Langham told 7.30. In its manufactured form Vitamin B6 — often labelled pyridoxine, pyridoxal, or pyridoxamine — is added to thousands of Australian products including foods, energy drinks, diet shakes and supplements. Overconsumption of the synthetic vitamin can cause life-altering issues including peripheral neuropathy, a nerve damage complication causing tingling, numbness, burning or weakness in limbs. "It's just shocking," said clinical pathologist Dr David Kanowski, who runs a clinic testing B6 blood samples from across Australia. "Sometimes we talk to doctors who think it's a clerical error because the toxicity results are so high, and we say, 'No it's real, you need to sort it out,'" he said. Dr Kanowski has noted a "massive" increase in the number of people coming forward for B6 blood tests; doubling since January to more than 10,000 each month. Looking at the data for May, he said 4.5 per cent, or 450 people, returned results showing they were "very likely" to develop a neuropathy. A quarter of the samples, or 2,500 people, would "possibly, but not probably" also be showing symptoms. "One big lot [of cases] was caused by magnesium supplements, and I think it was possibly added as filler," Dr Kanoski said. "I'm not sure the technical reasons why it was there." The TGA is responsible for approving the ingredients used in complementary medicines in Australia. B6 is registered in more than 1,500 over-the-counter supplements — from magnesium to multivitamins. Eighty per cent of them contain levels well above the recommended daily amount of 1.7mg. 7.30 asked Blackmores Group, one of Australia's biggest supplements manufacturers, why many of its products contain B6 in such high levels. The company declined an interview but said all its products "including those containing Vitamin B6, are developed in strict accordance with the regulatory requirements of the TGA". While its own interim report found "the benefits of supplemental intake of vitamin B6 to be negligible", the TGA now joins the list of organisations which could not or would not say why B6 is added to so many products. "I'm not really able to answer why the commercial decisions are made by the different sponsors," Professor Langham said. She was quick to defend the TGA's "regulatory frameworks" as "very robust". "They exist so that the safety of the Australian community is held right at the centre of everything that we do," she said. After months of pressure to act, the agency handed down several recommendations on Friday, based on the advice of a committee tasked to investigate the burgeoning B6 problem. It was critical of the complementary sector, describing product labelling as "inconsistent and confusing", and called for clearer information and the rescheduling of supplements containing more than 50 milligrams of the vitamin, which would move several products off shelves and behind counters. "That will give the Australian community more protection and a greater sense of safety," Professor Langham said. The TGA last tightened the rules around B6 in 2022, requiring supplement companies to put warnings on products with more than 10mg. But many sufferers and medical professionals say they didn't go far enough. And there are new concerns that the latest round of proposed changes won't prevent toxicity for people taking multiple supplements at once. "It could still easily be an overdose over a period of time, if you're taking three or four complementary medicines with lower dosages," community pharmacist Caroline Diamantis told 7.30. The complementary medicines sector argues that B6-related incidents are "extremely rare", according to Complementary Medicines Australia boss John O'Doherty, "based on a comparison of sales data with the TGA's public database". While that data shows more than 170 adverse events, the TGA's Professor Langham said it could not be used to make that case. "I think it's sufficient to say that our database of adverse events doesn't necessarily reflect the true incidence of what's happening in the community," she told 7.30. "It's also important to understand that because something is reported, it doesn't necessarily mean that there's a definite attribution of cause there." Ms Diamantis is also concerned the proposed implementation of the TGA's regulatory changes, February 2027, "is too far away". "Personally I feel like that's too long, because there's another year or more where people could still be experiencing side effects," she said. Professor Langham said the complexities of the changes means the process "is a long one". "We're going to have to look at reformulating their products, which will mean either transitioning them out of the market or reducing the dosage that's in there," she told 7.30. "And there's also another element of changes that the TGA is looking to make from a legal perspective to our legislation around some of the labelling and also around some of the lists of medicines, what we call our permissible ingredients list. "It's done so that things can be done carefully and properly, and so that Australians can feel confident, ultimately, that the correct decision is being made." The TGA will accept submissions on its "interim decision" until July 27 2025, which will be considered by a senior medical officer before a final decision is made. Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Safety warning over popular supplement after father develops life-ruining disability linked to the vitamin
When Dominic Noonan-O'Keefe started taking a selection of supplements to help him fight common bugs, he never expected the 'health boosting' pills would leave him with life-long nerve damage. Dominic Noonan-O'Keefe, 33, from Melbourne, Australia, started taking daily capsules of vitamin D, vitamin C, and what he thought was magnesium, in the summer of 2023, to support his overall health. But, this simple decision 'absolutely ripped apart' life. The magnesium tablets contained significantly above the recommended dose of the vitamin B6 in them, resulting in unpleasant symptoms that struck within three months of his new regime. Mr Noonan-O'Keefe started experiencing nausea, dizziness and difficulties walking. He told Australian news site 9News: 'I'm dizzy, nauseous. I find it difficult to walk, there's sort of generalized numbness and tingling across my body. 'I walked in, and I grabbed vitamin D, vitamin C, and some what I thought was magnesium. 'I didn't deliberately purchase any B vitamins, and it's resulted in absolutely ripping apart my life. He now has peripheral neuropathy—nerve damage in the body's extremities, like hands and feet, leading to symptoms like numbness, tingling, and pain. Vitamin B6 is a vital nutrient that is important for a range of functions such as metabolism, brain function, and hormonal balance, and most of us get enough of from our diet. The vitamin is found in meat, dairy and eggs, as well as spinach, kale, bananas and potatoes. While studies show that taking excessive amounts is almost impossible via food, experts have previously warned of the risk over overdosing with supplements. Dr Gemma Day, a chemical pathologist, said: 'Weight loss shakes, energy drinks and over the counter supplements can all contain high levels of B6 that can then in turn cause this issue.' Polaris Lawyers told 9 News they are investigating possible class actions against the company that manufactured the supplement Mr Noonan-O'Keefe says he took. Nick Mann at Polaris Lawyers said: 'I think that there needs to be some legal accountability for the fact that these products are potentially toxic and not enough is being done to protect consumers.' A spokesperson for the manufacturer told 9 News: 'All our products, including those containing vitamin B6, are developed in strict accordance with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regularly requirements. 'We encourage consumers to consult a healthcare professional'. In the UK, it is estimated almost one in 10 people aged 55 or over are affected by peripheral neuropathy. The symptoms include numbness and tingling in the feet or hands and burning stabbing or shooting pain in different areas. It can also cause loss of balance and coordination and muscle weakness (especially in the feet). The recommended daily amount of vitamin B6 ranges from between 1mg for older children to 1.4mg for men, and 1.2mg for women, according to the NHS. Taking around 200mg per day is known to lead to peripheral neuropathy. Scientists don't exactly know why, but it is thought that excess vitamin B interferes with how the brain hormone GABA sends signals to the sensory nerves. The NHS advises not to take more than 10mg per day of B6 as the risks are unclear. Some studies have found nerve damage may occur at doses below 200mg, while US health chiefs say the safe upper limit is between 40 and 80 mg, depending on age. However, the Australian Royal College of Pathologists are seeing blood results 600 times higher 1.9mg in some patients. Since 2020, the Australian medicines watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, has received 147 reports of adverse effects of supplements containing vitamin B6. Andrés Lopez-Varela, from Newcastle, New South Wales, also suffered through extreme peripheral neuropathy. He experienced tingling, burning and shooting pains through his peripheral nervous system for four years—a period he described as 'the worst in his life'. Mr Lopez-Varela said: 'I couldn't have a phone conversation with the handset held to my ear because the act of partially closing my hand was so excruciating. I stopped being able to drive properly because closing my hand around the steering wheel would send burning pain up my arms and into my chest,' he tells me. 'I couldn't even sit down for long periods because slumping in my chair would cause the pain to explode. It was a fiery, burning, nerve pain that rarely went away.' He believes the culprit was vitamin B6 in an over-the counter-supplement he was taking. The Royal College of Pathologists in Australia have warned against the potential dangers of excessive vitamin B6 consumption. Dr David Kanowski, a chemical pathologist at Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology in Brisbane, has observed an increase in patients presenting peripheral neuropathy. 'There has been an increase in people taking over-the-counter medication in earnest for their health, not realising that it could potentially be harmful,' he said.
