Injections for nutrition and cosmetic purposes: promoted effect vs. objective evidence

Hyun-Young Shin

doi:10.5124/jkma.2017.60.10.784

J Korean Med Assoc > Volume 60(10); 2017 > Article

Shin: Injections for nutrition and cosmetic purposes: promoted effect vs. objective evidence

Opinion

Journal of the Korean Medical Association 2017; 60(10): 784-788.

Published online: October 23, 2017

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2017.60.10.784

Injections for nutrition and cosmetic purposes: promoted effect vs. objective evidence

Hyun-Young Shin, MD

Department of Family Medicine, Myongji Hospital, Seonam University College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.

Corresponding author: Hyun-Young Shin. shy801117@gmail.com

Received September 01, 2017 Accepted September 15, 2017

Korean Medical Association

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The introduction of intravenous nutritional therapy for cosmetic and health purposes in Korea has been controversial. Because it brings ethical problems of off-label prescribing on the basis of low level of medical evidences for claims of fatigue reduction, detoxification, anti-inflammation effect, skin whitening, antioxidant and anti-aging effects. Despite the lack of clinical studies, the verification of the efficacy and safety of intravenous nutritional therapy and the need to provide objective information to patients are prerequisite for the correct intravenous use. In addition, efforts should be made to prevent the abuse for commercial purposes.

Placenta extract; Glutathione; Thioctic acid; Fursultiamine; Glycyrrhizic acid

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