Is taking daily vitamin supplements good for your health?
Lunchtime Live’s new health advice series ‘The Clinic’ features GP and lecturer Dr Sumi Dunne answering all your health-related questions.
In this week’s episode, she discusses everything from vitamin supplements to mole mapping and when you should be concerned about your child’s temperature.
She began with a question from one listener who said they were “seeing a lot of ads” from one vitamin company and wondered if they were good for handling menopause, bloating and IBS.
Dr Dunne said she is generally ‘not a fan’ of vitamins.
"A full healthy, balanced diet that's nutrient-dense in whole foods is my preference, particularly through a menopausal journey, where we want to get all our nutrients from our diet," she said.
"A lot of menopausal women and perimenopausal women – due to the fact that periods change [and they] might get really heavy periods – could be iron deficient.
"There's a lot to be said for iron capsules, under the recommendation through your GP.
"Some women might be vitamin D deficient again, more pronounced through the perimenopause journey that may have a base to it.
"Generic vitamins like this just give you expensive pee."
Mole mapping
Another listener said they had a large number of freckles all over their body, and wondered if mole mapping was a necessary precaution.
"If a lesion is changing, if it's getting bigger, that's the one that we need to keep an eye on," Dr Dunne said.
"Certainly, on a sun-exposed area, we need to keep an eye on it [or] if it's starting to bleed, ulcerate, [or] the border becomes irregular.
"[If it's getting] bigger than 0.8cm or just under a centimetre that's the one that needs to be looked at, particularly if it's getting darker and darker."
Dr Dunne said mole mapping can be done through a referral from a GP to a dermatologist.
"Dermatologists normally carry what we call a particular type of microscope called a dermatoscope – not every GP has that," she said.
Dermatologist examines birthmarks with a dermatoscope (Daria Artemenko / Alamy Stock Photo)One concerned parent said their two-year-old had a temperature of 38.5C, and asked Dr Dunne if she should be taken to the hospital.
"She seems grand and she's drinking her bottles," they said.
Dr Dunne said it was a "fairly high temperature" for a young child to have.
"I would get her checked out, particularly if she stops being herself," she said.
"If she's in great form, great, because a lot of kids can tolerate temperatures.
"If she gets drowsy, if she gets a rash, if she's vomiting, if she's not responsive, then she definitely does need to be seen."
You can listen back here:
