It’s New Year’s Eve and the health care market has become extraordinarily popular, but there always seems to be a mix of deceptive “miracle drugs” in this market. Worried about your elders falling for it? Why not teach them a few simple ways to identify health scams? For health products such as supplements, the following advertising terms may be accompanied by scams and require extra vigilance: “Absolutely Effective” It is often difficult to draw very definite conclusions in medical research because of the many confounding factors and the difficulty of determining cause and effect. Even if we find a possible link in a study, it usually requires many further repeated trials and in-depth studies to be sure. Therefore, when advertisements contain very absolute assertions and guarantees (e.g., 100% effective), this is likely to be unfounded exaggeration. “Money back” This is a common reincarnation of “absolutely effective” and is more inflammatory. This type of product assumes that the consumer is too embarrassed to get a refund if the product is found to be ineffective, or does not allow the consumer a place to get a refund. “There are a variety of causes and pathogenesis behind diseases, so different diseases need to be treated in different ways. There is no one thing that can treat a variety of unrelated diseases at the same time. Denying mainstream treatments Exaggerating the dangers of existing conventional medical treatments by stealing concepts, etc. For example, some advertisements claim that drugs taken for chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia) can cause “lifelong dependence” when in fact the need for daily medication is not the same as drug dependence. This false advertising plays on people’s fear of taking medication for a long time. In fact, patients with chronic diseases who take their medications as prescribed have a higher quality of life expectancy than those who do not, all other things being equal. “No surgery, no medication” Health food is not a drug, it is not intended to treat disease, and it is not a substitute for drugs and surgery as a means of treating disease. In some cases, drugs may be added illegally to these health products in order to really show efficacy, and there are significant health risks associated with the use of such products. In order to increase profits, the illegal additions are usually cheap drugs with relatively large side effects. The illegally added ingredients are not specified and their dosage is unknown, while consumers usually do not strictly limit the dosage of health supplements, which can easily cause drug overdose and bring more toxic side effects. Case studies versus expert testimonials The strength of evidence for product efficacy in individual cases is very weak compared to large-scale statistics. Even if the advertised claims are true, individual cases may be influenced by many factors, making it difficult to prove how well the advertised product really works. Similarly, even if the expert recommending the product in the advertisement is genuine, his personal opinion is not enough to tell much. In evidence-based medicine, expert opinion, like individual case reports, is the type of evidence that carries the least weight. Many of the experts who appear in ads for offending health products are actors playing the role. This image is a diagram from the US show 30Rock. “All natural” and “no side effects” There is nothing inherently wrong with claiming to be all natural. But behind such slogans often lies a false implication that natural substances are safer. In fact, natural additives can have toxic side effects, and because natural products are more complex in composition, their safety may be less easily controlled. Theoretically, any substance that can have an additional effect on the body (i.e., “efficacy”) has the potential for side effects, and even in the case of health food, there is no absolute safety. Even for health food, there is no absolute safety. “No side effects” is the same as “absolutely effective”, which is an exaggerated assertion. Moreover, such propaganda can easily lead people to believe that these health products do not need to limit the dosage. “Latest Technology” and “Ancestral Recipes” The intentional use of incomprehensible and mystifying terms to describe products is also suspect. For example, nano, quantum, magnetic, bioelectric and genetic concepts are used in advertisements to describe products without any specific explanation. The above propaganda also violates the relevant provisions of drug and health product advertisements, which are illegal. Identity history should be checked Many health products will be confused with the concept of health food and medicine, and it is necessary to distinguish whether a product is a health food or a medicine. Legitimate health food packaging has a “blue hat” pattern containing the word “health food”, and the approval number format of domestic and imported health food products in 2003 and before are “Health food and health word (year) No. xxx” and “Health food and health word (year) No. xxx” respectively. No. xxx” and “卫食健進字(年)第xxx号” respectively. Since 2004, the new format of health product approval number is G+4-digit age number+4-digit sequence number (domestic) and J+4-digit age number+4-digit sequence number (imported). And the legal domestic drug approval number is State Drug Certificate + 1-digit letter + 8-digit number, while the imported drug is 1-digit letter (H, Z or S) + 8-digit number. Approval number is like the identity card of drugs and health food, if you can not find this information on the packaging, the product is likely to be illegal production of “black”. Using the name of the product and the approval number information, you can check the State Food and Drug Administration website to identify the product’s identity. On the State Food and Drug Administration website, you can check the registration information of health products and drugs according to the product name and approval number. If a product uses a forged approval number or the approval number has been cancelled, it can be found on the website of the State Food and Drug Administration. In addition, you can also look for product-related news and announcements on the websites of national and local regulatory authorities to find out if the product has a history of violations and safety risk reports. The “Exposure Desk” section of the State Food and Drug Administration’s website also allows you to browse through recent investigations and punishments of illegal drugs, health products and cosmetics. In addition, a cautious attitude should be taken towards any health food and medicine. Even if a product is reliable, improper use may bring health problems. Before deciding to start taking a certain product, it is best to consult a doctor, pharmacist, nutritionist and other professionals.