A New Jersey woman says she almost died after taking daily turmeric pills, a popular supplement found in grocery stores.
Katie Mohan, a 57-year-old from Morristown, told NJ.com she sustained liver damage after taking daily pills of turmeric, a yellow spice widely used for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Mohan said her first symptoms included fatigue, nausea, stomach pain and yellowing eyes, which are a sign of jaundice.
Mohan first saw her doctor in April, but the scans and tests ordered came back normal. Her symptoms continued to get worse until June, when Mohan read an NBC News story about a man with similar symptoms who found out he had a drug-induced liver injury after taking turmeric daily.
“I threw [the supplements] out, and I said to myself, ‘I’m wondering if this is what’s causing my symptoms,’” Mohan told NJ.com.
Mohan bought the turmeric pills, which were manufactured by YouTheory, at Costco, NJ.com reports. The product states the daily dose is three pills containing 2,250 milligrams, Mohan said, which is over the World Health Organization’s recommendation of up to 3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day.
After reading the NBC News article, Mohan went to urgent care. From there, she was admitted to Morristown Medical Center, where doctors found that she had severe liver damage. She was treated with an antiviral IV drip, but her skin was still yellowing.
Mohan recalled thinking: “Am I going to need a liver transplant? Am I going to die?”
“I was very, very, very scared,” she added.
That’s when she was transferred to NYU Langone in New York. There, her doctor found “evidence of acute hepatitis, impending liver failure and potential transplant evaluation.”
“She was really very sick,” Dr. Nikolaos Pyrsopoulos, told NJ.com. “Her liver numbers were 60 to 70 times above the normal limit. And she was very yellow.”
Mohan said Pyrsopoulos confirmed her fears that the turmeric caused her symptoms.
“He’s like, ‘You essentially poisoned the liver with the turmeric,’” she said. “It was the dose combined with the fact that it had that black pepper in it.”
Pyrsopoulos told NJ.com that his hospital sees three to four liver transplants per year related to turmeric poisoning.
Mohan has since been discharged and says her liver enzyme levels are still elevated, but they’re continuing to fall and her symptoms have completely disappeared. Mohan has since reported the supplements to the Food and Drug Administration.
The Independent has contacted Costco and YouTheory for comment.
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