Homework help due tomorrow, please proof-read my summary?!?

PLEASE PROOF-READ MY SUMMARY. CHECK FOR GRAMMAR LIKE "IN / ON", "THIS / THAT" SENTENCE STRUCTURE, ETC. SPECIALLY PREPOSITIONS…

Summary: Are Dietary Supplements Safe and Effective?

Over the past years, dietary supplements have been a health issue in the United States. Dietary supplements are pills contained with nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, and herbs. People should consider them only as a complement to the diet. Supplements, however, do not go over the same manufacturing, selling, and labeling process as pharmaceutical drugs do. Due to the supplements’ high controversy whether they are safe or not to consume, this piece of writing will summarize Michael D. Johnson’s article titled “Are Dietary Supplements Safe and Effective?”.

The manufacturing, selling, and labeling process from a dietary supplement completely differs from that of a pharmaceutical drug. Dietary supplements are grown naturally, whereas pharmaceutical drugs are made by humans. Thus, pharmaceutical drugs must go, by law, through several phases of procedures in order to test the drug’s safety and effectiveness. First, the drug goes through a Pre-phase, in which the drug is tested on two or more animals such as mice and rats. After the results of the Pre-phase are obtained, the drug is tested in Phase I on a small group of volunteers, usually of twenty to eighty people. Depending on the results of the first phase, the drug is tested—in Phase II—on hundreds of people by following a controlled study. If the drug’s goal is reached, the drug is then performed—in Phase III—on thousands of people to discover any effect, if used extensively. After the pharmaceutical drug has been approved to hit the market, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tracks the labeling and packaging process of the drug to ensure that it is safe and effective. Moreover, the FDA checks periodic reports made by the pharmaceutical company to track all unfavorable reactions to the drug.

As oppose to pharmaceutical drugs, dietary supplements are not required to be tested because they are found in nature, and have been consumed for many centuries. Thus, it could cost millions of dollars for product research, which manufacturers do not count on. As a result, the FDA established “The Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act of 1994” which gives an advantage to them to exempt dietary supplements from the normal drug authorization procedure until they are revealed precarious. Furthermore, the act gives to the dietary supplements business other benefits. The FDA does not intervene with the complete manufacturing process of these supplements. Though the process saves millions of dollars, dietary supplements are controversial with their safety and effectiveness.

Dietary supplement manufacturers lack of accurate product labeling. Also, ingestion of dietary supplements with modern drugs tends to be very dangerous. Recent studies, for instance, have shown that an herbal antidepressant can interfere with a variety of prescribed drugs for “birth control, heart conditions, asthma, and HIV infections.”

Dietary supplements have been causing a great impact in society because of their inappropriate manufacturing process. They are not tested in the same way as pharmaceutical drugs only because supplements are found in nature and are too expensive to research. On the other hand, pharmaceutical drugs go through a serious of testing phases in order to approve its safety and effectiveness. As of today, it is very difficult “to tell how safe dietary supplements are.” Thus, the question remains open to discussion.

Line 1 instead of "health issue" a subject of concern

Leave out "as opposed to pharma…" and start with Dietary ….

Having instead of "causing" in the first line of the last paragraph..

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 3:08 pm and is filed under herbal antidepressants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.