This is era of the internet. We do everything online, from sharing our emotions with people to buying property and paying our bills. There is nothing that one cannot purchase on the internet these days.
Some of us take the easy way out and even buy health products online. But great caution should be taken in buying health products online.
As a matter of fact there are some health products that should never be bought online:
Weight loss solutions
- There are tons of advertisements found on the internet and the TV of products claiming to do miracles and make you lose weight without lifting a finger.
- These weight loss supplements have been shown to contain harmful and hidden ingredients.
- Some even are sold without approval from the FDA. The problem in this industry exists because there is no regulation of the weight loss supplements available in the market.
- Please check with your doctor before you think of buying any of the weight loss supplements available online.
- The pills, powders or gels might just be stimulants that contain a lot of caffeine that will actually ruin your heart, and make things worse for people with existing cardiac issues.
Breast milk
- Some women might not be able to breast feed their young ones due to a terminal illness or some other problems.
- They might not want their children to miss out on the goodness of breast milk and the protection it gives to the health of their little ones.
- You never know if anything has been added to the breast milk or if it has been stored properly.
- Breast milk is a very delicate product and if it is not shipped in the right conditions, not stored properly or if additives like cow’s milk or other harmful substances are added to it, then it might be detrimental to the health of your baby.
- Why should you take the risk? If you really don’t have breast milk to give your baby consider visiting a Human Milk Bank, where women who produce excess breast milk, donate it to the bank.
Hormone medication
- As tempting as it might be to pick hormone medication from the internet it is advisable not to do so as it most of them contain active ingredients and you will need to know how much of hormones you actually need in your body to fix an existing hormonal imbalance or other health issue.
- Hormonal medication off the net come without prescription, so you might land up consuming more than you actually need due to which you may suffer from extremely harmful side effects like emotional imbalance, voice deepening or even hair growth.
Prescription medication
- If a website is allowing you to purchase prescription medication without viewing the actual prescription then you definitely need to sit up and be careful.
- You need to be careful when buying these prescription medications as these websites offering to sell them without a prescription might be sell you medication that are fake or those that contain dangerous and harmful ingredients.
- Of course you can always buy prescription medication from State-licensed pharmacies. Make sure the website mentions the phone number, address and license number.
- You can even make a call or check with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy to check if the online pharmacy is registered with them.
So beware when you buy things online. Not all might be good. You don’t want to harm your health by buying medication that is not what you assume it to be.
Written by: Rasha Ashraf
