The Food and Drug Administration cautioned against taking high levels of Biotin Supplements.
Biotin, also called Vitamin B7 or H, is mostly found in Hair, Skin and Nail care products, in Multi-Vitamin complexes specifically marketed to women, and prenatal supplements. Biotin levels in these supplements can be up to 650 times higher than the daily recommended dose for this vitamin.
Elevated levels of this Vitamin can cause skewed results in various lab tests, either reporting a too high or too low results. It looks like high levels of Biotin taken through supplements for Hair, Skin and Nail care or similar interfere with lab results through its ability to interact and bind to certain proteins, such as Troponin used to evaluate cardiac health.
Further complicating the issue, many patients are not even aware that they are taking Biotin, which can be a part of a Multi-Vitamin complex.
Patients and physicians are encourage to discuss Biotin supplementation prior to laboratory tests.
Categories: Education, FDA, New insights, Uncategorized, UnScience