ONLINE FEATURE | Dietary Supplements Used for COVID-19 Treatment

By Robert M. DiSogra

This article is a part of the May/June 2020, Volume 32, Volume 3, Audiology Today issue.

There are no dietary supplements that will cure or prevent disease. With the 2019 coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, it’s especially important to understand that no supplement, diet, or other lifestyle modification other than physical distancing, also known as social distancing, and proper hygiene practices can protect you from COVID-19.

There is no research to support the use of any dietary supplement to protect against COVID-19. No supplement may claim to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure COVID-19. Consumers and retailers should avoid products that suggest they do.^{1, 2}

Dietary Supplements in the United States

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-417, DSHEA), authorized the establishment of the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The ODS was created in 1995 within the Office of Disease Prevention (ODP).

The mission of ODS is to

Strengthen knowledge and understanding of dietary supplements by evaluating scientific information, stimulating, and supporting research, disseminating research results, and educating the public to foster an enhanced quality of life and health for the U.S. population.³

One of the purposes in creating the ODS was to promote scientific research in dietary supplements. In the United States, these ingredients are usually defined as including plant extracts, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and hormonal products that are available without prescription and are consumed in addition to the regular diet. Although vitamin and mineral supplements have been available for decades, their health effects have been the subject of detailed scientific research only within the last 15–20 years.⁴

As part of the mission of the NIH, information about current clinical research using pharmaceuticals and/or dietary supplements that are being evaluated for a wide range of pathologies affecting humans is provided on the website www.clinicaltrials.gov. Here professionals and consumers can search any pathology using a variety of filters to narrow their search.