What is the essential difference between health products and drugs?

by shilan1770 on 2011-05-13 14:03:41

Medicines are used for the treatment, diagnosis and prevention of diseases. The function of medicine is to cure disease and save lives. Health supplements are used for health care and adjuvant therapy. There is an obvious difference between the two. However, some products such as vitamins and mineral products, some are medicines, some are health supplements. How to view the drugs and health supplements of the same product?

First, the production and formula composition are different. The production capacity and technical conditions of medicines must be strictly examined by relevant national departments, and pass through strict examination of pharmacology, pathology and virus and years of clinical observation. After being identified and approved by relevant departments, they can be put into the market. However, health supplements can be put on the market without going through hospital clinical experiments. In this way, medicines must have definite curative effect and indications, and adverse reactions are clear; but food does not.

Second, the quality control in the production process is different. As a pharmaceutical vitamin product (medicine number), it must be produced in a pharmaceutical factory, and the quality control requirements in the production process are very high, such as air cleanliness, sterile standard, raw material quality, etc. At present, all pharmaceuticals are required to reach GMP standard (pharmaceutical production quality standard); while as food Vitamin products (food number) can be produced in food factories, and the standards are lower than those of pharmaceutical production.

Third, the difference in efficacy. As a medicine, it must go through a lot of clinical verification, and be reviewed and approved by the National Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). It has strict indications and certain efficacy in treating diseases; while health supplements as food have no therapeutic effect, only test pollutants, bacteria and other health indicators, and can be marketed after passing the qualification.

Fourth, the differences in instructions and advertising propaganda. As a drug, there must be a detailed instruction manual approved by SFDA, indication, precautions, adverse reactions, very rigorous; while the instruction manual of health supplement as food will not be so detailed and strict, which is also easy to be exaggerated in advertising propaganda.

Therefore, when consumers choose products, in order to ensure safety, it is better to choose the OTC (over-the-counter) drugs with the approval of SFDA, and see whether there is a detailed instruction manual when purchasing. Before taking the health products belonging to drugs (medicine number), the instructions must be read carefully, and the recommended dose should be taken according to the recommendation, and the dose should not be exceeded.