Medicine-whether in the form of health supplements or pharmaceuticals-is big business indeed. With profit margins which can be nearly four times the average of every other business, the pharmaceutical industry enjoys a top position being amongst the most profitable businesses in the world.
The nutraceutical industry isn’t far behind offering stiff competition to pharmaceutical counterparts. Research is booming and science-based studies have given successful impetus to the plant-based health supplement industry. A number of the popular botanicals like as Echinacea, gingko biloba, ginseng, garlic, and St. John’s Wort are seeing sales that put them in the same league with many prescription drugs. Actually, so popular is the health supplement industry that pharmaceutical giants like Bayer, American Home Products, Johnson and Johnson and Boeheringer-Ingelheim have all begun to sell supplements!
What is the Difference?
There’s little of a distinction between nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals with the exception of the manner in which they are regulated in the United States although both are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration. Major differences include:
* Pharmaceuticals which can be derived from plant proteins for vaccines and medical treatments are not similar as nutraceuticals. The major difference is that pharmaceuticals are designed specifically for medical use under a physician’s supervision, and are subject to Food And Drugs Administration approval.
Supplements do not require medical supervision, nor Food And Drugs Administration approval.
* Pharmaceuticals need prescription from a professional doctor for purchase. The decision of a health supplements is around the individual. Supplements can be bought without restrictions at health food stores, food markets, drug stores, national discount chains, mail-order and Internet.
* You can find no strict regulating laws governing health supplements. Nearly everyone can assembled a health supplement, notify the Food And Drugs Administration , and put it in the market. In stark contrast, it takes anywhere between 8-12 years for a new drug to be approved by the Food And Drugs Administration.Pharmaceuticals undergo intense regulatory reviews by the Food And Drugs Administration.
* Due to stricter regulations, pharmaceuticals have greater evidence of efficacy and safety. Whereas health supplements are based on tradition with insufficient evidence of safety and efficacy. However, this really is changing as new research builds around support the health great things about a few of the accepted nutrients. Eg omega 3 fatty acids.
* Pharmaceuticals are patented. health supplements Herbs and health supplements are not patented and which means profits are limited with stiff competition from a myriad of health supplement manufacturers.
* Pharmaceuticals spend an incredible number of dollars for research and paperwork for a new therapeutic claim of an established drug all to satisfy Food And Drugs Administration requirements. Food And Drugs Administration requirements for health supplements are generally not very stringent aside from barring them from making any false health claims about their product and adding a disclaimer: “This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The product isn’t intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
* Pharmaceuticals come with various side effects. Known unwanted effects are needed to be disclosed on the label. While health supplements don’t demand a listing of unwanted effects, there is often fewer cases of unwanted effects associated with the usage of health supplements.
Complaining about the high cost of traditional medicine and unwanted effects, many individuals are embracing alternative medicine in the form of health supplements. A written report by the Hartman Group, a respected market research firm called, “The Wellness Trends in 2002” found that Americans are beginning to place the family and a healthy body above the daily routines of life. Those types of interviewed many expressed frustration with U.S. healthcare system and wanted more control over their own health. The report said, “Dietary supplements … (allow) them a method of self-managing their own health … providing them with a sense of empowerment,” the report states. This is a bonus over pharmaceuticals.According to the Nutrition Business Journal fast growth in the nutraceutical market is seen in weight-loss products.
The demand for such products is growing as you think about the a lot more than 120 million overweight Americans and 17 million diabetics who are looking for supplements that increase metabolism, suppress or satiate appetite, and control blood sugar. Such sectors in the health supplement industry have gained footage over pharmaceuticals.In America, 60% of the consumers take some sort of food supplement and 30 to 40% take herbal supplements. Supplements are gaining such credibility that lots of physicians are recommending them with their patients before prescribing riskier pharmaceuticals. Of the health supplement users 95% are pleased with supplements.In the meanwhile, research continues to be booming in both industries! Health supplement manufacturers continue steadily to unveil groundbreaking products as new evidence supporting the health great things about nutraceuticals emerges.