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 Children are being poisoned by a widely used dietary supplement which adults take for sexual enhancement, a new report warns. 
 
 At least 275,000 calls — an average of one call every 24 minutes — were made to poison control centers because of exposure to all kinds of dietary supplements between 2002-2012, according to the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Central Ohio Poison Center, both at Nationwide Children's Hospital. 
 
 But in the report published online Monday, researchers singled out yohimbe tree bark extract as the latest in a long list of dangerous substances that children are accidentally ingesting. Of all the calls made to the poison control centers in the past decade, yohimbe exposure had the largest proportion of serious outcome and has been found to cause heart beat rhythm changes and kidney failure in children. 
 
 Yohimbe is the name of an evergreen tree found in parts of central and western Africa. The bark of yohimbe contains a chemical called yohimbine, which is used to make medicine. For centuries, yohimbe has been used in Africa to treat fever and leprosy or as an aphrodisiac, but currently its most popular use is to treat erectile dysfunction in men and low libido in women, even though there is scant evidence that it works. 
 
 As a dietary supplement, the dried bark of the yohimbe tree is available in capsule and tablets forms as well as in tea. Since the dose range is narrow — take too little and it doesn’t work and take too much and it is toxic — use of this herb is not recommended. The Food and Drug Administration has received reports of seizures and kidney failure associated with yohimbe consumption. 
 
 Even “safe” dosages may cause dizziness, nausea, insomnia, anxiety, a rise in blood pressure, and rapid heartbeat. Overdose can be fatal. Internet claims boast great results in the bedroom; however, there are many other FDA-approved medications for ED, like Viagra or Cialis, which are much safer and more effective. 
 
 "Many consumers believe dietary supplements are held to the same safety and efficacy standards as over-the-counter medications," said Dr. Gary Smith, senior author of the study and director of the Center of Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's. "However, dietary supplements are not considered drugs, thus they are not required to undergo clinical trials or obtain approval from the FDA prior to sale, unless the product is labeled as intended for therapeutic use." 
 
 In the study, 1,818 cases of yohimbe exposure were reported over the past ten years — 512 of which were considered serious. The report was published online Monday in the Journal of Medical Toxicology. 
 
 Related: Caffeine Overdose Killed South Carolina Teen 
 
 The study also found that 78 percent of yohimbe exposures occurred in children, ages six or older, although most supplement exposures occur in children under six. Among reported exposures, 3.2 percent were admitted to a critical care unit for treatment, with one reported death. At least 1.3 percent of cases were serious and more than a quarter caused moderate harm. 
 
 The vast majority of exposures were unintentional. 
 
 Henry Spiller, co-author of the study and director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children Hospital, says the findings show the need for child-resistant packaging, caregiver education and FDA regulation of yohimbe and other energy supplements. ||||| (CNN) From 2005 to 2012, the rate of calls to poison control centers about dietary supplements increased by almost 50%, and most of the exposures were in children younger than 6 years old, according to a study published Monday in the Journal of Medical Toxicology . 
 
 The study defines dietary supplements as any product that supplements the diet, including vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, homeopathic agents and amino acids, and concentrates, metabolites, constituents and extracts of these ingredients. 
 
 The researchers used data from the National Poison Data System , to which poison control centers submit their call information. From 2000 to 2012, there were 274,998 dietary supplement exposures reported to poison control centers across the US: one call every 24 minutes, on average. 
 
 The symptoms most associated with supplement ingestion included tachycardia, or rapid heart rate; vomiting; nausea; irritability; drowsiness and dizziness. 
 
 Seventy percent of the dietary supplement exposures were in children younger than age 6; 99% of those were unintentional. Overall, only 4.5% of all supplement exposures resulted in serious medical outcomes, mostly in children under age 6. 
 
 Henry Spiller , study author and director of Central Ohio Poison Control, said parents still need to be extremely cautious about leaving these products within access of children. 
 
 "Sometimes, parents don't think of keeping dietary supplements away from their kids, because they're not medicines prescribed by the doctor. People think of them as natural," Spiller said. "But they need to be treated as if they were a medicine. Don't leave them out on the counter. Keep them out of reach." 
 
 Spiller said the two most common ways for children to ingest a supplement are while they're exploring the house or when a parent mistakes it for another kind of medication. 
 
 Jeannette Trella , managing director of the Poison Control Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, added that many dietary supplements do not have child-resistant packaging. Because of this, she says, parents should really consider whether they want to store supplements in their homes. 
 
 "Parents should look at this as a risk-benefit analysis," said Trella, who is also a pharmacist and was not involved in the new study. "It should be considered whether the potential benefit of taking the supplement really outweighs the risk of your child accidentally ingesting something they shouldn't and becoming sick." 
 
 But children under age 6 were not the only group adversely affected by dietary supplements; many older kids and adults were, too. Among those who called poison control centers about dietary supplements, 21% reported adverse effects, according to the study. 
 
 From 1999 to 2012, the number of adults who reported using dietary supplements has remained steady in the range of 49% to 54%. 
 
 The study named the most dangerous supplements as ma huang, yohimbe, homeopathic agents and energy drinks. 
 
 Ma huang is a stimulant containing ephedra that was outlawed by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2004. 
 
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 However, yohimbe -- often promoted as enhancing male sexual performance -- and energy drinks containing caffeine or other stimulant ingredients, as well as homeopathic agents that are supposed to help with migraines, asthma and other conditions, are still on the market. 
 
 During the study's 13-year period, 34 people died of exposure to dietary supplements. Six deaths were associated with ma huang, three with homeopathic agents and one with yohimbe, the researchers said. These types of dietary supplements were also closely associated with serious medical outcomes. 
 
 "More than 170 million Americans take dietary supplements each year, and the responsible industry is invested in bringing safe and quality products to meet this demand," the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the leading trade association for the dietary supplement and functional food industry, said in a statement. "We recommend that consumers store dietary supplement products in safe places, out of a child's reach. In addition, we recommend that consumers talk with their doctor or pediatrician about their family's supplement use." 
 
 The group added that homeopathic agents, which were included in the study, are not dietary supplements and are regulated differently. The FDA said they are regulated as unapproved drugs 
 
 According to the FDA's website, the agency "regulates dietary supplements under a different set of regulations than those covering 'conventional' foods and drug products. Unless the products are intended to treat or prevent a disease, this means the FDA does not require companies to conduct clinical trials of dietary supplements." 
 
 The FDA said it does not comment on specific studies, but it is reviewing these findings. Additionally, the agency suggests certain safety guidelines for consumers and parents who might use dietary supplements, including storing them out of sight of children and informing your health care practitioner if you are taking them. 
 
 The FDA encourages consumers to report adverse events related to dietary supplements on its safety reporting portal 
 
 For Trella, minimal FDA regulation is the most troubling aspect. 
 
 "Because dietary supplements are not regulated by the FDA, there are not robust studies done to ensure that they are efficacious or have a reliable safety profile," she said. "We're often going down a path of unknowns, and for possibly no benefit at all." 
 
 "We really don't know if there's a benefit to taking any of these supplements, because of the lack of studies," she said. "People need to be aware of that." 
 
 Spiller also said people should reconsider how they think about dietary supplements. 
 
 "Just because it's a natural supplement doesn't mean it's safe," he said. "I often use the example, technically, that cocaine is also natural. But that doesn't mean it's safe." ||||| Regardless the type of dietary supplements—from vitamins, energy drinks, herbal medicines, homeopathic products, to some hormonal treatments—they usually come with big claims about boosting health and wellbeing. While those claims are questionable (and often unfounded), the products collectively do enhance one thing: the volume of calls to poison control centers. 
 
 Between 2005 and 2012, the rate of supplement-related calls to poison centers increased 49.3 percent , researchers reported Monday in the Journal of Medical Toxicology. In the final year of data, the centers were getting calls at a rate of nearly 10 adverse exposures per 100,000 people. 
 
 There didn’t seem to be a big jump in use of dietary supplements during that time. Self-reported use among adults has held steady, around 49 to 54 percent, the authors note. But, these supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration as are drugs—no FDA review or approval is required before supplements hit the market. 
 
 “Lack of federal oversight has led to inconsistencies in the quality of dietary supplements, product mislabeling, and contamination with other substances,” Henry Spiller, a co-author and director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s, said in a statement. 
 
 Examining nearly 275,000 reports from the National Poison Data System between 2000 and 2012, Spiller and his colleagues came up with trends and details about dietary supplement poisoning calls. Of all the exposures, 70 percent were in kids six years old or younger and 82.9 percent were unintentional. But not all the kinds of supplements were of equal concern. 
 
 Of all the categories of products, homeopathic agents were the largest single cause of calls to poison control centers, accounting for 36 percent of calls. Between 2000 and 2010, the annual rate of exposures to homeopathic products jumped 227 percent and then fell by 18 percent between 2010 and 2012. 
 
 Following homeopathic products, botanicals were the second leading cause of calls and accounted for 31.9 percent. Hormonal products, such as androgen supplements, came in third, accounting for 15.1 percent. 
 
 But the most dangerous categories—those with the highest proportion of serious medical outcomes—included energy products, botanicals, and cultural medicines. Energy drinks can cause abnormal heart rhythms and breathing, as well as seizures. Two botanicals of note that seemed particularly dangerous were yohimbe, used for male sexual enhancement, and ma huang (aka ephedra), used for boosting energy, alertness, weight loss, and athletic performance. Yohimbe is linked to heart attacks, seizures, and kidney failure, while ma huang is linked to strokes, as well as heart attacks. In 2004, the FDA banned ma huang after it was linked to several deaths. The number of poisonings and deaths from ma huang plummeted after the ban. 
 
 The ban even seemed to influence overall supplement-related poison calls. The rate of calls was on the rise between 2000 and 2002, jumping 46.1 percent, then decreased 8.8 percent around the time of the ban between 2002 and 2005 before increasing again 49.3 percent from 2005 to 2012. 
 
 Though the data coming into poison centers may miss adult exposures and chronic, rather than acute, poisonings, the authors say it shows the FDA needs to do more. “Our results demonstrate the need for FDA regulation of yohimbe and energy products in the US as was done successfully with ma huang products in 2004,” the authors conclude. 
 
 Journal of Medical Toxicology, 2017. DOI: 10.1007/s13181-017-0623-7 (About DOIs).
– A Journal of Medical Toxicology study of calls made to poison control centers over the past 12 years finds one herbal supplement to be particularly concerning. Of those calls, the ones with the biggest proportion of serious medical outcomes had to do with yohimbe tree bark extract, NBC News reports. The extract, which comes from an evergreen tree found in Africa, has been used there for centuries to treat various maladies, but it's most popular as a libido booster for both men and women—though there's little evidence of its efficacy. It can cause changes to heartbeat rhythm and even kidney failure in kids. Overall, the study found that between 2005 and 2012 there was a 49.3% increase in calls to poison control centers related to dietary supplements, including vitamins, energy drinks, homeopathic products, herbal medicines, and some hormonal treatments, Ars Technica reports. The senior author of the study notes that products classified as supplements aren't considered drugs, and thus don't go through the FDA approval process (and may not be stored in childproof containers). In the case of yohimbe, the FDA doesn't recommend its use, as it's easy to overdose. Even the recommended dosage can lead to problems such as high blood pressure and rapid heartbeat, and overdose can lead to seizures and even death. The study found 1,818 cases of yohimbe exposure reported between 2002 and 2012, 78% of them in children. Of all the cases, 512 were serious; 3.2% of patients were admitted to a critical care unit, and one died. "Sometimes, parents don't think of keeping dietary supplements away from their kids, because they're not medicines prescribed by the doctor. People think of them as natural," another lead author tells CNN. "But they need to be treated as if they were a medicine. Don't leave them out on the counter. Keep them out of reach." (This herbal "detox" sent a woman to the ER.)