Navigating the Natural Supplement Aisle: Tips for Helping Patients with Heart Disease

Clinicians such as pharmacists and nurses are not widely trained on the use of dietary or herbal supplements. These topics typically appear in the curriculum as electives and are not required to be understood in the context of licensing or board specialty examinations. This is not consistent with the public’s needs and frequently asked questions. Clinicians need to be equipped with the basic knowledge to answer dietary and supplement-related questions in order to combat misinformation and provide evidence-based recommendations, as well as to identify relevant drug interactions.