This information comes from an article in the September issue of Consumer Reports. The article lists 12 different supplemental ingredients associated with negative health consequences. These include bitter orange (an ephedra-like supplement associated with heart attack and stroke), germanium, coltsfoot and colloidal silver, which has been marketed as an immune system booster but is known to cause argyria and kidney damage.

Wonder how these vitamins managed to slip past the FDA? Guidelines for vitamins and supplements differ greatly from those for food and traditional drugs. Supplement manufacturers are responsible for clearing the safety of their products and providing information, but many companies aren’t even required to register products or gain approval. The FDA can’t take action until the product goes to market.

“Supplements are marketed with very seductive and sometimes overblown sales pitches,” Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor for Consumer Reports, said in a news release. “Consumers are easily lulled into believing that supplements can do no harm because they’re ‘natural’.”

Metcalf also noted that not all natural ingredients are safe. “The FDA has repeatedly found hazardous ingredients, including synthetic prescription drugs,” she added.

The guidelines for supplements are flawed, but legislators have been moving slowly to boost the FDA’s oversight. Until then, Consumer Reports urges consumers to take responsibility in educating themselves on the health effects of their vitamins.

Get the full scoop at ConsumerReports.org or get vitamin information from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

’Tis the season for giving, and some people are taking it to the extreme. Thirteen people donated their kidneys for what they’re calling a “kidney swap.” Donors had nothing to gain, but because of their generosity 13 lucky recipients have a little extra to be merry about this Christmas.

End-stage renal disease, also known as kidney failure, can’t be treated with medication. When the kidneys cannot function, the body can’t filter out its wastes, and the person will eventually die. The only way for a person to survive this condition is to undergo dialysis or receive a kidney transplant.

This is one of the largest kidney swaps that’s ever occurred, the Associated Press reported. Donations such as this do more than just help the kidney recipients. They cut the wait list and give hope to the entire pool of patients who need kidneys.

Transplants are very complicated procedures, and much of the difficulty lies in finding a compatible donor. In the United States, nearly 105,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant. It is estimated that another 4,000 are added each month.

Patients waiting for an organ must register with the National Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). This registry helps match patients with the most compatible donors. The shortage of kidneys makes this process extremely difficult, and only a small number of patients are ever lucky enough to receive one.

Finding a compatible donor can take years. Because of the donation, however, the wait was cut significantly. Doctors from Georgetown University Hospital and Washington Hospital Center completed the 26 operations in just six days.

Five of the recipients needed to undergo a procedure known as plasmapheresis, a process of filtering the blood to retain antibodies that will keep the body from rejecting the kidney. All of the donations were life-saving operations.

"People keep wanting to know why, why, why," donor Sylvia Glaser, 69, says. "It sounds very trite but you pass through this world, and what do you ever do that makes a difference? You are giving someone a life, and there is no substitute for that."

Although they were complete strangers prior to the donation, donors and recipients were finally able to meet for the first time this Tuesday.