It's All About the Children

Although it may not be a new term, it certainly is attractive these days for a product to be labeled "natural". Every day in my office, parents and patients alike will share with me another "natural" product they are using for either their children or themselves.

This list includes everything from sunscreen to laundry detergent to moisturizing lotion to treatment for some of the more common and even rarer ailments. Now I like the idea of using a "natural" product...who wouldn't? But what exactly is implied when something is labeled "natural"? When searching for a standard definition, one will find it describes something which is present or produced in nature. Well, isn't everything produced in nature? Without turning this into a philosophical discussion, it appears these days anything being sold can be "natural" as long as it satisfies one of the two following qualifications: it has the label "natural" somewhere on the product or it is being sold in a "natural" store.

But the issue I have here is whether "natural" automatically implies healthy. Unfortunately, we don't always know. We certainly would like to believe all things "natural" are healthy, but that is often more wishful thinking than anything else.

Now I feel quite confident that I could probably find something at issue with many "natural" products, but I'd like to share a recent news feature which highlights the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning consumers about a "natural" nipple cream product (Mommy's Bliss Nipple Cream from MOM Enterprises, Inc.) with two potentially harmful ingredients: chlorphenesin and phenoxyethanol. And for those who need some clarification, nipple creams are used by nursing mothers to help soothe dry and cracked nipples.

According to the FDA report, chlorphenesin may cause respiratory depression in infants by relaxing skeletal muscle and depressing the central nervous system and the preservative, phenoxyethanol, can also depress an infant's central nervous system, and potentially, cause vomiting and diarrhea. Now in fairness to MOM Enterprises, Inc, they have since discontinued selling this product and both they and the FDA have never received any consumer complaints or reports of injury to any infants who have been exposed to the nipple cream.

But my concern with any product, "natural" or not, is whether there exists good literature supporting its use in a healthy manner. Our children deserve this.

Dr. Jeremy