CDC: Mounting illness reports linked to supplement

ATLANTA - Health officials are investigating 184 reports of illness in people who took dietary supplements containing toxic levels of the mineral selenium.

Last month, federal officials warned consumers about harmful doses of selenium a mineral considered healthful in small amounts in plastic bottles of liquid `Total Body Formula' and `Total Body Mega Formula.'

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration found up to 200 times the label level of selenium. The agency also found 17 times the label level of chromium, but the agency has not yet concluded if those levels are toxic.

Health officials are looking into an escalating number of illnesses in 10 states Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina.

No deaths have been reported. One person has been hospitalized.

The most cases have been reported in Florida, with 48, and Georgia, with about 40, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is helping in the investigation.

Reported symptoms include hair loss, discolored and painful fingernails, muscle cramps, joint pain, diarrhea and fatigue.

David Wilkins said more than half of his hair fell out, and his wife Vicki lost 90 percent of her hair. ``It was traumatic,'' was Wilkins, 57, a professional land surveyor from Woodstock, Ga. who first grew ill in February.

People take one-ounce doses of the products as kind of a liquid vitamin.

Wilkins said he and his wife took it because they believe supplemental nutrients are better absorbed when they're in liquid form.

Consumers include children and elderly people as well as those of ages in between, said Dr. James Lando, who is leading the CDC team working on the investigation.

Toxic levels of the minerals were in about 1,200 bottles distributed in 16 states and over the Internet, Lando said.

The manufacturer recalled the product March 27, but the increasing recent reports indicate many people may not have heard about the problem and may have continued to take the product, health officials said.

Victims have grown ill five to 10 days after beginning to swallow affected products. Death is possible but unlikely, health officials said.

``The main thing to do is to stop'' drinking the product, Lando said. ``There's not a specific treatment but stopping.''

The products are distributed by Total Body Essential Nutrition Inc. of Woodstock, Ga. The Associated Press left a detailed message for the company on Friday, but company officials could not be reached for comment.

FDA officials refused to release the name of the manufacturer, saying it was deemed confidential commercial information under federal law. The agency is investigating what happened at the manufacturing facility to cause poisoning.

On the Net:
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