{"id":641698,"date":"2026-05-01T22:16:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/641698\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T22:16:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:16:25","slug":"emergency-doctor-warns-of-overdose-risk-from-common-supplement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/641698\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency doctor warns of overdose risk from common supplement"},"content":{"rendered":"

An emergency medicine physician based in Virginia has issued a stark warning to parents about the potentially lethal dangers lurking in household vitamin cabinets.<\/p>\n

Dr Ashley Alker, who practises in Fredericksburg, has drawn attention to the serious risks that iron-containing supplements pose to young children in her recently published book, “99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them.”<\/p>\n

The physician notes most people fail to recognise that over-the-counter products can cause overdoses.<\/p>\n

“That’s very dangerous for young kids, especially because they don’t need very much to overdose,” Dr Alker told TODAY.com.<\/p>\n

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The initial symptoms of iron poisoning include gastrointestinal distress<\/p>\n

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Prenatal vitamins present a particular hazard, as they contain the highest concentrations of iron among multivitamin products. <\/p>\n

The National Capital Poison Centre warns that households with newborns face elevated risks, given that mothers may have these supplements readily accessible.<\/p>\n

Compounding the danger is the fact that many iron supplements now come as gummies with an appealing taste and appearance.<\/p>\n

“For babies, infants, toddlers and kids, if they eat a handful of those, that can be an overdose for them. So anything with iron in it should be locked up,” Dr Alker cautioned.<\/p>\n

Children’s smaller body size means they can reach toxic levels far more rapidly than adults.<\/p>\n

The initial symptoms of iron poisoning include gastrointestinal distress, with sufferers experiencing nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhoea and constipation, according to the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

However, the condition rapidly deteriorates beyond these early warning signs.<\/p>\n

“The blood turns to acid, and the iron causes bleeding and liver, heart and kidney dysfunction,” Dr Alker writes in her book.<\/p>\n

The NIH cautions that consuming extremely elevated quantities of iron – reaching hundreds or even thousands of milligrams against the 8-18 milligrams adults require daily – can trigger organ failure, seizures, coma and death.<\/p>\n

Parents should take decisive action by securing all adult supplements out of sight and beyond children’s reach, with Dr Alker specifically recommending that tablets and gummies be locked away.<\/p>\n

Reassuringly, the National Capital Poison Centre notes that children’s multivitamins typically contain negligible amounts of iron or none whatsoever.<\/p>\n

Should parents suspect their child has ingested iron supplements, immediate medical attention is essential.<\/p>\n

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Children’s smaller body size means they can reach toxic levels far more rapidly<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

An intravenous antidote exists and can be administered at the hospital, though Dr Alker emphasises it must be given promptly to be effective.<\/p>\n

Though iron remains vital for maintaining good health, consuming it in appropriate quantities – ideally through iron-rich foods – is paramount.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An emergency medicine physician based in Virginia has issued a stark warning to parents about the potentially lethal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[49,48,84,44,395,12384],"class_list":{"0":"post-641698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-nutrition","13":"tag-sgg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}