Vitamin fix: Moving the needle on IV drip therapy

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IVs are normally associated with surgery or sick patients, but a new trend is bringing IVs into posh clinics where people are voluntarily rolling up their sleeves. These IV infusions are filled with vitamins and sold to medically healthy people to boost their energy, mental clarity and rejuvenate skin tone.

Celebrities swear by this form of therapy – called IV vitamin infusion – for everything from curing a handover to severe fatigue. But what was once a treatment only for the select few is now available to the masses and it’s becoming incredibly popular in the city of Los Angeles (LA) in the US.

John Hines has been coming to Drip Doctors, one of the first IV vitamin therapy clinics in LA, for two years. He said he has much more energy and better mental clarity since starting the treatments.

Dr. Anthony Ho, co-founder of Drip Doctors, is also an emergency room physician who embraced the concept after seeing the results of treating patients daily with IV vitamins. Unlike oral vitamins with an absorption rate of about 30 percent, with IVs, 100 percent of the vitamins are absorbed.

IV vitamin infusion is popular among celebrities and A-listers. /CGTN Photo

But critics said there’s no reason to go beyond what’s recommended by the Food and Nutrition Board of the US National Academy of Sciences.

“We’re talking about giving vitamins beyond the RDA (recommended dietary allowance),” said Dr. Raj Dasgupta of the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. “They take into consideration the absorption issues. They take into consideration gender, race, age, weight so this isn’t an arbitrary number. This is validated when we make these recommendations.”

Dr. Dasgupta adds, there are also dangers associated with IV therapy, including possible bruising, clotting, bleeding and risk of infection.

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