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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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05.04.2009 |
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Too much lecithin causes blood cells to explode
Everything, and we mean everything, taken in the 'right' amounts and combined with the 'right' genetic predisposition, can make you fatally ill. Even seemingly innocent lecithin capsules can lead to a potentially life threatening form of anaemia. Greek doctors report in Cases Journal about a woman of 38 who developed problems after taking three lecithin capsules a day.
The woman became tired and listless. She also developed jaundice symptoms: her skin and eyelids turned yellow. She went to a hospital where the doctors examined her blood. They discovered that she had anaemia, which explained why she was so tired. Not only did she have too few red blood cells, many of the cells still present were deformed.
Healthy red blood cells look like saucers, but these cells were spherical in shape. The photo below shows a few of these.
Doctors call round blood cells spherocytes. Normally you see these cells in rare diseases, or if the wrong medicine, a genetic defect, a virus or poison induces the body to start producing defective blood cells. The cells are capable of transporting oxygen, but they explode in the blood. The substances released are poisonous to the liver, and in the case of the woman probably caused jaundice.
One theory that the doctors put forward is that phospholipids in the lecithin ended up in the red blood cell membranes. As a result the membranes change enough for the immune system to mistake them for hostile invaders – so the immune cells attacked and exterminated the red blood cells. The medical term for this is autoimmune haemolytic anaemia.
The doctors treated the woman with a corticosteroid – prednisone – to stop the immune system being attacked. They also got her to stop taking the lecithin capsules. She recovered and after ten days was able to go home.
This is not the only story of its kind. You could fill a small library with studies on the serious side-effects of innocent supplements or foods. The most extreme case that we know of is a study in which drinking a couple of cups of green tea caused a liver defect. [Free Radic Biol Med. 2007 Aug 1;43(3):474.]
In most of the studies though there's something strange going on as well. For example, the supplement in question has been manufactured in the wrong way, and contains an overdose of vitamin D. [N Engl J Med 2001 Jul 5;345(1):66-7.] Or there are shady circumstances: a soldier has just had a military vaccine and develops an extreme immune reaction. Doctors then put it down to the testosterone booster supplement that the soldier had been using, even though all the evidence points to there being more to the matter. Another one is about a woman who says she's become ill due to high amounts of arsenic in kelp pills. The woman is claiming damages from the manufacturer – but it looks as though she purposely set out to poison herself. [Environ Health Perspect 115:606–608 (2007).]
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