Non-herbal supplements

So here's a bizarre convergence of the controversies surrounding cognitive performance-enhancing strategies and the end-of-grade (EOG) testing stress on teachers and students. Esther Robards-Forbes reports in yesterday's Charlotte (NC) Observer that a third-grade teacher was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of minors by giving three students adult-strength multivitamin pills in advance of their EOG tests: A third-grade teacher at Marvin Elementary in western Union County was arrested and suspended from his job after he was accused Friday of handing out vitamin pills to three…
Sorry to get to this so late but I wanted to weigh on an excellent post from my cancer blogging colleague, Orac, the other day on the investigation of CAM therapies in cancer. The post covers a lot of ground, as expected from any of Orac's exhaustive missives, but I wanted to focus on the comparison and contracts between NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine within the National Cancer Institute (NCI-OCCAM). I am on record as a strong critic of NCCAM but a supporter of NCI's OCCAM in that the…
The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) allows herbal and non-herbal supplements to be sold in the US without demonstration of effectiveness or safety. Despite recent improvements in Good Manufacturing Practices required of supplement manufacturers, these products still pose significant risks to the population simply because the hands of regulatory authorities are tied - products cannot be removed from the market until there is evidence for lack of safety, meaning that consumers must first be harmed before FDA is authorized to intervene. After cautions a couple weeks…
No, it's not a song by Foreigner - these are the names of two products "promoted and sold over the Internet for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) and for sexual enhancement." In yet another instance of a trend that would be comical if not so serious, the US FDA has announced that "Blue Steel" and "Hero" supplements contain chemical relatives of sildenafil, the active constituent of the prescription medication Viagra. "Because these products are labeled as 'all natural dietary supplements,' consumers may assume that they are harmless and pose no health risk," said Janet Woodcock, M.…
"There's no credible evidence that what's in Airborne can prevent colds or protect you from a germy environment," said CSPI senior nutritionist David Schardt, who reviewed Airborne's claims. "Airborne is basically an overpriced, run-of-the-mill vitamin pill that's been cleverly, but deceptively, marketed." One really needn't go any further than this money quote from yesterday's press release out of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). With continuing investigations from the Federal Trade Commission and 24 State Attorneys General, the walls are crumbling down on the makers of…
[Note: I originally posted this last Thursday under another title but it got lost in other events of that day. As I find it ironic that Mr Comarow has been attacked by an alternative medicine practitioner and advocate, I find this story worthy of reposting.] A few weeks ago the skeptical blogosphere was up in arms about an article in US News & World Report by Avery Comarow on alternative medicine services in US academic medical centers. Mr Comarow is a senior medical writer for USN&WR and best known as editor for the last 18 years of the magazine's annual feature, America's Best…
Yesterday was the 1st anniversary of Blogroll Amnesty Day, originally proposed by a reasonably prominent blogger who used the occasion to relieve himself of guilt when purging his blogroll and building back up only a list of those he reads regularly. I learned via my new homies, PhysioProf and DrugMonkey that Jon Swift and Skippy have proposed this day instead as an opportunity for low-traffic bloggers to blogroll even lower-traffic bloggers to help everyone rise up in notoriety. Despite being here at ScienceBlogs for 20 months, I have managed to keep my readership to a small but select…
If you read nothing else: Men with prostate cancer should avoid any dietary supplement containing testosterone (or anything that sounds like it) or that offers claims of increased virility, sexual performance, or increased muscle mass. Consumption of a herbal/hormone dietary supplement has been linked to two cases of aggressive prostate cancer as reported in a paper in the 15 January issue of Clinical Cancer Research (abstract free; full paper paywalled) . The observations and follow-up studies were conducted by urologists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Baylor…
Leave it to PharmGirl, MD, to point me in the direction of a story that addresses the core theme of this blog: not only can medicines come from the Earth, but the Earth can itself be medicine. This time we're not talking about South Carolina "sandlappers" as detailed in my inaugural post here as authored originally at the old blog. (For newcomers, you'll get this gist if you also read, "Why Terra Sigillata?"). Instead, we wish to point your attention to a LiveScience article by Clara Moskowitz entitled, Why Chimps Eat Dirt. The practice of eating soil, known as geophagy, is common among…
We've discussed in July and November 2007 about cosmetics companies taking advantage of the observation of an interesting side effect of certain anti-glaucoma eyedrops - they increase eyelash number and thickness. In the cosmetics industry, this is a big deal such that consumers are willing to pay US$149-160 per unit of Revitalash or Age Intervention Eyelash Conditioner. Here's the pharmacological backstory as I wrote back in July: The background on this "breakthrough" relates to the side effect profile of prostamides, drugs that treat glaucoma by reducing intraocular pressure. These…
I'm very excited to announce to Terra Sig readers the kickoff of a new group blog called Science Based Medicine. Yes, it may sound odd that one would need to preface "Medicine" with the qualifier, "Science-Based," but therein lies the goal of this new resource from its mission statement: Safe and effective health care is critical to to everyone's quality of life; so much so that it is generally considered a basic human right. The best method for determining which interventions and health products are safe and effective is, without question, good science. Therefore it is in everyone's best…
Yet another example in today's press about dietary supplements contaminated, intentionally or accidentally, with prescription or unapproved drugs - in this case, anabolic steroids showing up in about 20% of supplements tested. I was asked by a major news organization if this is the first time that anabolic steroids have been found in supplements. Nope, look at this FDA action from March 2004 or March 2006. Ugggh, this is a very old story that I've discussed here many times, mostly relative to erectile dysfunction supplements: Potentially life-threatening adulteration of erectile dysfunction…
These aren't the 1920s. If you want to get your remedy approved as a drug, you've got to abide by the rules everyone else plays by. From the FDA press release: At FDA's request, U.S. marshals have seized about $71,000 worth of products from Florida-based FulLife Natural Options Inc. after the agency determined that FulLife violated food and drug law by promoting certain products for use in treating serious conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Because of the claims, FDA considers the products -- Charantea Ampalaya Capsules and Charantea Ampalaya Tea -- to be unapproved drugs.…
Here's a quick note that might belong best in Orac's weekly feature, Your Friday Dose of Woo. The Scientist reports today on a report released by the UK-based group of scientists called Sense About Science. The group has been challenging dietary supplement manufacturers about their scientific-sounding advertising claims by calling the companies up and questioning their "science." Their statement of intent stays away from the fact that companies are making money on these products but, instead, focuses on the two standards for science that seem to operate in our societies: We are fed up with…
...if they contrain sibutramine. Sold under the trade name of Meridia in the US and Reductil in Europe, this prescription appetite suppressant for weight loss was recently detected in an apple cider vinegar supplement called MetaboSlim sold by Confidence, Inc. An alert by the FDA notes that the affected lot was only sold in Canada but we are fortunate to have a good number of Canadian readers. This episode is yet another in a long string of reports of dietary supplements being adulterated with prescription drugs, intentionally or accidentally. Interestingly, Confidence Inc. was also the…
A Longmont, Colorado, engineer has been released on bail after backyard explosions led law enforcement officials to find a cache of chemicals and homemade explosive literature at his suburban home. According to the Rocky Mountain News, Ronald Swerlein, who allegedly rousted his neighbors with explosions in the middle of the night, was told Monday he must post $50,000 to get out of the Boulder County Jail. Swerlein will be formally charged Friday, possibly for possession of explosive devices after authorities removed more than 400 chemicals from his Longmont home over the weekend. He also…
Yesterday morning's press release from the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting included discussion of three abstracts on complementary therapies being tested in cancer and cancer-related indications. The highlights on the major news services are that 1) a shark cartilage extract failed to provide survival benefit in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, 2) an American ginseng extract reduced cancer-related fatigue, and 3) flaxseed slows prostate cancer growth. Just a few comments, mostly on the positive results, that didn't make it into mainstream media reports: The…
Actually, sharks do get cancer but a 15-year-old book by William Lane led people to think otherwise, launching investigation of shark cartilage as a source of antiangiogenic, anticancer compounds. While there is one promising shark cartilage extract (Neovastat) in clinical trials for multiple myeloma, most oral preparations on health food store shelves aren't stabilized and characterized well-enough to guarantee stability of antiangiogenic compounds. But it gets worse with this news today from FDA's MedWatch program that illustrates once again the safety problems of some dietary supplements…
More Canadian press leads me to put up another post on dichloroacetate (DCA), the inhibitor of mitochondrial aerobic glycolysis that is being promoted as a freely-available cancer "cure." Like many compounds tested in animal models of human cancer, DCA treatment reduces the size of human lung tumors grown in rats, but is far from a cure. Any other similar drug would be just one of hundreds jockeying for investment by drug companies large and small and might not even be competitive enough for entry into clinical trials. However, DCA is a bulk chemical that is largely available freely and is…
In the comment thread of my recent post about Herbalife, the multilevel supplement marketing company, I brought up the company's association with Dr Louis Ignarro who shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system. My medblogging colleague, Orac, reminded me of a post he put up last October about his personal experience hearing Dr Ignarro talk at the American Association for Academic Surgery meeting: You see, what happened is that Dr. Ignarro started delving into what sounded to me like woo about…