A woman from New Jersey is speaking up after a catastrophic health emergency that almost cost her her liver because she took a popular supplement that she thought would make her healthier.
Katie Mohan, who is 57 years old, started taking turmeric in March after seeing a doctor on Instagram claim it was a natural approach to ease joint pain and swelling.
She bought the turmeric pills online and took them every day without thinking twice after reading the good reviews and hearing that they would improve her health.
What began as a basic health checkup quickly became a medical emergency.
Mohan started to feel nauseous and tired and had stomach discomfort that wouldn’t go away after a few weeks.
At first, she didn’t believe them, but when her urine turned dark, which is an indication of liver troubles, she knew something was very wrong.
Mohan didn’t think the pills were to blame until she heard about a man who had been in the hospital after taking turmeric supplements and had almost the same symptoms.
“My mind suddenly clicked,” she told NBC News.
I cried, “Oh my God!”
I’m not sure if this problem is mine.
She hurried to the emergency room, where a blood test verified what she thought.
Her liver enzymes were 60 times higher than usual, which is a very serious sign that she has liver disease.
Doctors told her that her liver could fail and that she was “one step” away from needing an organ transplant.
Each of Mohan’s pills has 2,250 mg of curcumin in it. Curcumin is the primary component that makes turmeric brilliant yellow.
That is around eleven times more than what the World Health Organization recommends is safe for a woman of average weight.
Eating turmeric is usually safe, but experts advise that taking a lot of it as a supplement can be terrible for you.
More and more people are using turmeric pills, especially those with arthritis or chronic pain.
People often suggest that there are all-natural solutions to deal with memory loss, cancer, joint discomfort, and inflammation.
But as more people use them, worries about their safety have grown, especially with high-dose, unregulated drugs offered online.
Dr. Nikolaos Pyrsopoulos, a liver specialist at NYU, took care of Mohan. He told her that her health was “very serious” and that she was very near to having her organs fail completely.
He noted, “Katie was very close to having full liver damage, liver failure, and needing a liver transplant.”
It was excellent that Mohan got well because the liver can cure itself in some ways.
She was watched over and given IV therapy while she was in the hospital for six days.
Mohan has said he won’t take any supplements since he is still furious about what happened.
She said, “I’ll never take another supplement again.”
“I just didn’t feel good overall.”
I also noticed that my pee was darker even though I drank a lot of water every day.
Mohan’s condition is not at all uncommon.
Around 11 million Americans use turmeric every day, usually to treat arthritis. But this push toward wellness may be making a public health issue worse that isn’t getting enough attention.
A study from 2022 indicated that the number of persons with liver illness who were taking supplements rose eightfold between 1995 and 2020.
Doctors now warn their patients to be very careful when using over-the-counter supplements, especially those obtained online or in large quantities.
It may seem like a safe, natural cure, but it could be quite harmful, and these dangers don’t always show up until it’s nearly too late.
