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That's good to know about Vitamin E, w.c. Sounds like it's still a winner.
 
Posts: 7539 | Location: Wichita, KS | Registered: 09 August 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
<w.c.>
posted
More bogus reporting by the media re: St. John's Wort research and its effectiveness for treating depression. In this evening's newscast, reporters almost uniformly stated that St. John's Wort was ineffective for major depression, but didn't mention its greater effectiveness, and lower side effects, for the treatment of mild to moderate depression when compared to drug therapies. Furthermore, it isn't clear whether the cited studies measuring SJW for major depression increased the dosage of the herb, or maintained the amount used in studies for mild to moderate symptoms.

Here's an excerpt from today's media report:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,157536,00.html

Here's the bit not carefully mentioned in the media broadcasts I saw:

Mixed Results

"Overall, in adults with mild to moderate depression, St. John's wort improved depression symptoms more than placebo and had similar benefits to standard antidepressants, write the researchers.

However, when they looked at six large, recent, more precise trials that only included people with major depression, the researchers say they found "only minimal benefits" compared with placebo.

They also say the studies showed fewer adverse effects with St. John's wort than with older antidepressants such as the tricyclic drugs. St. John's wort may also have had slightly fewer adverse effects than newer antidepressant drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)."
 
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<w.c.>
posted
And here's the study I cited elsewhere showing St. John's Wort's effectiveness in the treatment of major depression. I'll bet you the recent meta-analysis covered by the media tonight didn't look at this study where the dosage was doubled, or may have only averaged it in with the other studies using lower dosages appropriate for mild-moderate symptoms. Until they start using the higher dosages, it is ridiculous and irresponsible for the media to carry these misleading stories.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/en...t&list_uids=15708844


The only serious side-effect of SJW I've seen in the medical literature is the risk of cataract development if there is no protection from UV light exposure. I haven't found a study showing this risk where lab animals are fed SJW and then examined for such effects. All studies seem to be "in vitro," which introduces the herb to the cell culture rather than in its metabolized form (post-digestion). But I'd sure take the risk seriously. The research shows that when not exposed to strong UV light, there is no such risk, and therefore researchers are recommending UV wrap-around sunglasses for those using the herb while outdoors.
 
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<w.c.>
posted
Great-looking resource to keep updated on Vitamin E, separating biased media-reporting from the actual research:

http://www.vitaminefacts.org/
 
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<w.c.>
posted
Here are some links showing physician recommended alternative sources for the treatment of high blood pressure:


http://www.doctormurray.com/articles/fishpeptides.htm

http://www.doctormurray.com/articles/celery.htm

http://www.coenzymeq10suppleme...ease-coenzymeq10.htm

http://www.doctormurray.com/articles/CoenzymeQ10.htm
____________________________________

The last three links provide thorough coverage on the research showing benefits of Coenzyme Q10 for both high and low blood pressure.
 
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<w.c.>
posted
More facile distortions from pharmaceutically-driven researchers, where the unsaid, but often transparent goal, is to drive a wedge between consumers and effective herbal medicine:

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/.../nation/12239510.htm


Please note that in this study, reported by the media last night, that the herb Echinacea was used in an attempt to build immunity prior to exposing the study participants to a cold virus. It is well-established among naturopathic researchers and physicians that Echinacea is useless as a preventive, but is effective once symptoms are present. And so the study is plainly designed to skew what even most health food customers already know.

Here's the most important excerpt showing the flawed-design of the study, where the herb was studied for its preventive effects rather than given once symptoms were well-established:

"In the study published Wednesday, a total of 339 healthy volunteers were split into two groups. One was further divided into subgroups that received three different doses of the echinacea extract. The second group received an inactive placebo. Five days later, both groups were exposed to a rhinovirus through a nasal spray.

Most common colds are caused by rhinoviruses. The researchers used a strain identified as rhinovirus type 39, which is routinely used to study colds.

Among those receiving the herb, 81 to 92 percent caught colds, compared with 85 to 92 percent of those given the placebo."


And Here's the entire report, as the link above doesn't seem to work consistently. Please note that Wallace Sampson, featured at the end of the report, is perhaps the most nortorious "quack" debunker, but of such ill-repute among naturopathic phyicians that his commentary is almost expected to be duplicitous:

____________________________________________

Popular herb doesn't prevent colds or reduce symptoms, study finds

BY RONALD KOTULAK AND KELLY KENNEDY

Chicago Tribune


CHICAGO - (KRT) - Taking echinacea to ward off a cold or reduce its symptoms is a waste of time and money, according to a large, carefully controlled study that found the popular herbal remedy is ineffective.

The federally funded research was undertaken because more than 200 smaller studies had provided inconclusive and conflicting results about the benefits of the herb, which is derived from a common backyard plant, the purple coneflower.

Reporting in Wednesday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers said volunteers who took an extract of Echinacea augustifolia and were exposed to a cold virus developed about the same number and severity of colds as those who did not take it.

"This is really a good, definitive study in terms of saying that echinacea doesn't work," said Dr. Viju T. John of Rush University Medical Center, who was not involved in the research.

Echinacea is widely touted as a treatment for viral and respiratory diseases and is the fourth best-selling herb in the United States, with sales estimated around $300 million a year, according to MarketResearch.com.

The plant was used by Native Americans to ward off a wide variety of disorders and has been endorsed by the World Health Organization for treatment of the common cold.

In the study published Wednesday, a total of 339 healthy volunteers were split into two groups. One was further divided into subgroups that received three different doses of the echinacea extract. The second group received an inactive placebo. Five days later, both groups were exposed to a rhinovirus through a nasal spray.

Most common colds are caused by rhinoviruses. The researchers used a strain identified as rhinovirus type 39, which is routinely used to study colds.

Among those receiving the herb, 81 to 92 percent caught colds, compared with 85 to 92 percent of those given the placebo.

"Our study ... adds to the accumulating evidence that suggests that the burden of proof (that echinacea works) should lie with those who advocate this treatment," wrote Dr. Ronald B. Turner of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, who headed the study.

The results seem unlikely to convince those who swear by the herb. Managers at several Chicago health food stores noted that the study only tested one species of echinacea plant.

"They must have used the wrong kind," said Joyce deLuca, a manager at Southtown Health Foods. "It's a natural antibiotic and kills bacteria and viruses, as well as building the immune system."

At Bonne Sante Health Foods, which sells echinacea chews, pills, teas, drops and even enhanced water, manager Vivica Valcy said she chews the root of the plant to prevent colds.

When cold season starts, she said, people rush the store's supplement aisle.

"Oh wow. I couldn't really count how many," Valcy said. "That's one of our main sellers in the fall."

Kevin Park, manager at Life Spring Health Foods and Juice Bar, said the study would not discourage him from selling echinacea.

"Customers keep coming back and telling me good things," Park said. "I don't think it's a gimmick product. I think it's for real."

Microbiologist Dr. Kenneth Thompson, a University of Chicago researcher who studies antiviral compounds, said it is highly unlikely that echinacea of any kind could work.

Humans, he said, don't have the enzymes to utilize the active compound in the herb, so it does not reach blood vessels in the nasal cavity where cold viruses first infect a person.

Unfortunately, there are still no effective antiviral therapies that work on the common cold, Thompson said, which makes unproven remedies appealing to many cold sufferers.

John of Rush University Medical Center said that because the study failed to show any effect of echinacea on the immune system, it is unlikely that the compound would be of benefit in any kind of viral illness.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine funded the study because of the growing popularity of the herbal remedy, Dr. Wallace Sampson wrote in a commentary that accompanied Turner's article.

Sampson, an emeritus professor of medicine at Stanford University and editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, suggested it might be time for the federal government to stop wasting money on studies of unproven remedies that are not supported by scientific rationality.

Since 1999 the National Institutes of Health has spent almost $1.5 billion in grants for research into alternative methods, Sampson said. The alternative medicine center has spent almost half that amount and found no evidence that those methods work, he added.

Even when studies show complementary or alternative therapies don't work, such "disproof rarely leads the supplement industry to reduce production or the public to decrease use," Sampson said. "In fact, advocates often dismiss disproof."

"What is needed," he said, "is knowledge-based medicine, with randomized clinical trials of treatments with histories that indicate some reasonable chance of efficacy."

---

� 2005, Chicago Tribune.
 
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<w.c.>
posted
Here are two studies showing the inconsistency of researchers, in terms of dosage of Echinacea, that confounds the results as much as inappropriate use of the herb. One study used a scant 100mg of the herb, not even the minimum recommended amount of the herb listed on bottles one finds in health food stores! The second study used ample, multiple dosages, and achieved statistical significance:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/en...=15197051&query_hl=1

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/en...=14748902&query_hl=5


And here is an herb that has been shown effective, like Echinacea, once cold symptoms appear. The two herbs are often combined together:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/en...=15080016&query_hl=7
 
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<w.c.>
posted
 
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<Asher>
posted
Not sure if this is the right place to post this:

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en...s/tc_med/tc_med.html

TCM (traditional Chinese Medicine) and acupuncture will be regulated in Canada come 2006. I think we're ahead of you guys, no? ;-)
 
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<w.c.>
posted
No, acupuncture and TCM-herbal medicine are regulated in many states in the U.S. It has been left to each state to decide when it will do this.
 
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<w.c.>
posted
Along with its powerful and apparently safe liver supporting properties, Milk Thistle extract appears preventive re: skin cancer:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/en...=16084079&query_hl=1

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/en...=15586237&query_hl=1
 
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<w.c.>
posted
Interesting research emerging on a possible herbal/nutriceutical-based therapy for Hepatitis C:


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/en...=16082287&query_hl=2
 
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<w.c.>
posted
Cautions about some practices in farm-raising of salmon:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,177344,00.html
 
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<w.c.>
posted
 
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