The most popular single supplement was vitamin C, taken by 24 percent of the adults polled. Nearly all dietary supplement users take multiple products. Only 11 percent reported limiting their supplement use to only a multivitamin. More than a third of those who take herbal medicines do so in place of prescription drugs and nearly half take them in place of more traditional nonprescription medications, although the survey did not determine which herbals replaced which traditional drugs. Doctors are consulted for information by 44 percent of those who take vitamins and minerals and by only 28 percent of those who use herbals.
Pharmacists rank even lower as a source of information.
They are consulted by 32 percent of those taking vitamin and mineral supplements and 23 percent of those using herbals, the survey found. Nearly half of those taking vitamins and minerals turned to magazines for information compared with 43 percent of those taking herbals. Some 38 percent of those taking herbals said that they consulted books for information versus 43 percent of those taking other vitamin and mineral supplements. A team headed by a Tuscaloosa, Ala., plastic surgeon has found that women with large breasts are more likely to suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome than their smaller-breasted counterparts. Certain physical problems are more common among large-breasted women, including neck and back pain and grooves in the shoulders caused by bra straps, but carpal tunnel has not been identified as one of them.