Taking Biotin? Tell Your Doctor
Biotin is a B vitamin often used for skin health among other benefits; it’s involved in many metabolic processes in the body. Due to its chemical nature, it’s used as a coenzyme in several tests. One of those tests is for troponin, a protein released from the heart into the bloodstream during a heart attack. There are no large trials that have tested the effects of biotin on troponin testing, but a physician or lab tech needs to know if you’re taking extra biotin.
The amounts in multi-vitamins appear to cause no issues, but adding the biotin in products to improve hair, skin, and nails could be enough to impact the test. Did it in our subject’s case? Maybe. We don’t know for sure.
As we approach this long holiday weekend, take a minute to add up all the biotin you’re taking in supplements. If it’s more than one gram, and if you end up in the ER because of a suspected heart attack or stroke, tell the lab tech. It doesn’t impact your having a heart attack; it impacts the test as to whether you may have damage to your heart as a result of a heart attack. You don’t want that test to be inaccurate because it’s important to arriving at the correct diagnosis.
Enjoy the July Fourth holiday, check out the audios on sale for men and women, and I’ll be back next week.
What are you prepared to do today?
