http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/supplements/ en-us Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:32:33 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385953/posts Forty Years' War Many Americans do not think twice about taking medicines to prevent heart disease and stroke. But cancer is different. Much of what Americans do in the name of warding off cancer has not been shown to matter, and some things are actually harmful. Yet the few medicines proved to deter cancer are widely ignored. Take prostate cancer, the second-most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, surpassed only by easily treated skin cancers. More than 192,000 cases of it will be diagnosed this year, and more than 27,000 men will die from it. And, it turns out,... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385953/posts#comment Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:32:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2244953/posts As the FDA warns consumers to stop using Hydroxycut products, a new editorial published in the May 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal shows that this FDA warning is not unique. In the editorial, Gerald Weissmann, M.D. Editor-in-Chief of the journal and Research Professor of Medicine and Director of the Biotechnology Study Center at NYU School of Medicine, examines litigation involving StarCaps dietary supplement weight loss capsules to illustrate regulatory loopholes that make it impossible for the FDA to prevent dangerous substances sold with health claims from reaching the market. "You don't need to be a pharmacologist to suspect that... ScienceDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2244953/posts#comment Wed, 6 May 2009 00:02:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2222775/posts Near the end of 2008, the media ran headline news stories claiming that vitamins C, D, and E do not prevent heart attack, stroke, or breast cancer. Within five days, we posted a rebuttal on the home page of our website. When these biased stories are launched, the media never gives us prior notice to prepare a response. That means the public only hears conventional medicine’s distorted side of the story.What follows is a slightly modified version of how we responded to these unfounded attacks: In the early 1990s, several large population studies showed significant reductions in cardiovascular disease in... Life Extension Magazine (Life Extension Foundation) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2222775/posts#comment Sun, 5 Apr 2009 16:16:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2222735/posts The days when the dietary supplements industry is allowed to regulate itself may be numbered following release of a federal report addressing growing concerns about dietary supplement industry. The report, issued this month by the Government Accountability Office, calls on the Food and Drug Administration to expand adverse event reporting and increase its efforts to educate the public about the safety, efficacy, and labeling of these products. The GAO investigation into supplement safety was made at the request of Congress. According to the 77-page report, the FDA should be tracking all levels of adverse events related to the use of... Family Practice News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2222735/posts#comment Sun, 5 Apr 2009 14:26:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2193831/posts People with asthma and other preexisting lung diseases face an especially exaggerated year-round risk from a deficiency Getting plenty of vitamin D — more than diet can offer — appears to provide potent protection against colds, flu and even pneumonia, a new study reports. Although the amount of protection varies by season, the trend is solid: As the amount of vitamin D circulating in blood climbs, risk of upper respiratory tract infections falls. Though that’s not too surprising (SN: 11/11/06, p. 312), the researchers found one unexpected trend: “In people with preexisting lung disease, such as asthma and chronic obstructive... Science News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2193831/posts#comment Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:22:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2178644/posts Multiple sclerosis could be prevented through daily vitamin D supplements, scientists told The Times last night. The first causal link has been established between the “sunshine vitamin” and a gene that increases the risk of MS, raising the possibility that the debilitating auto-immune disease could be eradicated. George Ebers, Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Oxford, claimed that there was hard evidence directly relating both genes and the environment to the origins of MS. His work suggests that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and childhood may increase the risk of a child developing the disease. timesonline.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2178644/posts#comment Thu, 5 Feb 2009 03:15:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1705824/posts Vitamin shots may help protect multiple sclerosis patients from severe long-term disability, a study suggests. Currently, there is no effective treatment for the chronic progressive phase of MS, when serious disability is most likely to appear. Researchers cut the risk of nerve degeneration in mice with MS-type symptoms by giving them a form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide. The Children's Hospital Boston study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience. MS, which affects about 85,000 people in the UK, is a disease of the central nervous system. It causes the break down of the myelin sheath, a fatty protein, which coats... BBC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1705824/posts#comment Thu, 21 Sep 2006 19:44:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2155491/posts Doses of vitamin B1 (thiamine) can reverse early kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes, research shows. The team from Warwick University tested the effect of vitamin B1, which is found in meat, yeast and grain, on 40 patients from Pakistan. The treatment stopped the loss of a key protein in the urine, the journal Diabetologia reports. Charity Diabetes UK called the results "very promising" - but said it was too early for any firm conclusions. BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2155491/posts#comment Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:34:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2136828/posts Drinking green tea may help prevent heart disease and stroke, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Athens Medical School in Greece and published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention. "A couple of cups a day would probably be a good dose for people," researcher Charalambos Vlachopoulos said. "This is the first study to show these effects for green tea." Prior research has indicated that black tea can improve cardiovascular health, leading researchers suspect that green tea might even more effective. Many of the beneficial health effects of tea are attributed to its high content of antioxidant... Natural New http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2136828/posts#comment Sun, 23 Nov 2008 05:28:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2075728/posts A common household substance may be the key to reducing the number of babies born each year with cerebral palsy, a study being published today has found. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that infusing pregnant women at risk of premature birth with magnesium sulfate -- commonly known as Epsom salts -- just before they delivered cut their chances of having a baby with cerebral palsy in half. The study's authors say the findings could translate into immediate application by doctors in clinical settings, where about 3 of every 1,000 babies end up being diagnosed... star ledger http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2075728/posts#comment Sat, 6 Sep 2008 01:05:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992734/posts Mounting Evidence Shows Red Wine Antioxidant Kills CancerA natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells. (Credit: iStockphoto) ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2008) — Rochester researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell's core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function. The new study also showed that when the pancreatic cancer cells were doubly assaulted -- pre-treated with the antioxidant, resveratrol, and irradiated -- the combination induced a type of cell death called... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992734/posts#comment Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:59:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1999355/posts A form of substance abuse rampant in this country is rarely discussed publicly or privately. It involves abusing legally sold dietary supplements — vitamins, minerals, herbals and homeopathic remedies — all of which can be sold over the counter without prior approval for safety and effectiveness. Although there was much publicity about the hazards of ephedra, once widely used as a weight-loss aid until it was found to be deadly, many other heralded dietary supplements have the potential for harm, especially when taken in large doses or in various combinations with one another or with medically prescribed prescription drugs. Still... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1999355/posts#comment Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:12:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993200/posts Vitamin D Deficiency May Be To Blame For Soft Bones In Baby's Skull ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — Softening of the skull bones in normal-looking babies might reflect vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, according to a new study. Furthermore, breast-feeding without vitamin D supplementation could prolong the deficiency, which might lead to a risk of serious health problems later in life, including type 1 diabetes and decreased bone density. “Craniotabes, the softening of skull bones, in otherwise normal newborns has largely been regarded as a physiological condition without the need for treatment,” said Dr. Tohru Yorifuji, of Kyoto University Hospital... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993200/posts#comment Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:37:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1965479/posts PARIS (AFP) - Lack of folate, also called vitamin B-9, may triple the risk of developing dementia in old age, according to a study published Tuesday. Researchers in South Korea measured naturally occurring folate levels in 518 elderly persons, none of whom showed any signs of dementia, and then tracked their development over 2.4 years. At the end of the period, 45 of the patients had developed dementia, including 34 diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, said the study, published by the British Medical Association's Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. When the researchers, led by Jin-Sang Yoon of Chonnam National University... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1965479/posts#comment Tue, 5 Feb 2008 22:12:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960227/posts Vitamin D Deficiency Study Raises New Questions About Disease And Supplements ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2008) — Low blood levels of vitamin D have long been associated with disease, and the assumption has been that vitamin D supplements may protect against disease. However, this new research demonstrates that ingested vitamin D is immunosuppressive and that low blood levels of vitamin D may be actually a result of the disease process. Supplementation may make the disease worse. In a new report Trevor Marshall, Ph.D., professor at Australia’s Murdoch University School of Biological Medicine and Biotechnology, explains how increased vitamin D intake affects... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960227/posts#comment Sun, 27 Jan 2008 06:56:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1947477/posts It's good news that we are living longer, but bad news that the longer we live, the better our odds of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Many Alzheimer's researchers have long touted fish oil, by pill or diet, as an accessible and inexpensive "weapon" that may delay or prevent this debilitating disease. Now, UCLA scientists have confirmed that fish oil is indeed a deterrent against Alzheimer's, and they have identified the reasons why. Greg Cole, professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and associate director of UCLA's Alzheimer Disease Research Center, and his colleagues... ScienceDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1947477/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jan 2008 02:32:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1850510/posts LOS ANGELES - American consumers are being ripped off and their health possibly put at risk because of bogus ingredients slipped into imports ranging from toothpaste to dietary supplements. Suppliers who substitute cheaper ingredients for the real thing seldom get busted because the government and private labs review few of the products flooding in. Recent bouts of bad ingredients in pet food and toothpaste showed how suppliers can fool the limited safety checks. Fad-driven supplements are particularly vulnerable _ a rush of demand for a pill with an expensive key ingredient such as chondroitin can present a quick-buck opportunity. Much... Casper Star Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1850510/posts#comment Fri, 15 Jun 2007 02:43:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1937245/posts A team of researchers led by National Cancer Institute (NCI) epidemiologist Dr. Michal Freedman has published an article suggesting that vitamin D is highly successful in reducing deaths from cancers of the colon and rectum. The researchers studied 16,818 people who had joined a nationwide U.S. government health survey between 1988 and 1994. The volunteers were then followed through the year 2000, by which time 536 had died of cancer. The study found that people with relatively high blood levels of vitamin D when they entered the study had a 72 percent reduction in their risk of dying of colorectal... cancer decisions http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1937245/posts#comment Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:52:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1936433/posts NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An extract of green tea wards off colorectal cancer, animal experiments show. According to research reported at the Sixth International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, a standardized green tea polyphenol preparation (Polyphenon E) limits the growth of colorectal tumors in rats treated with a substance that causes the cancer. "Our findings show that rats fed a diet containing Polyphenon E are less than half as likely to develop colon cancer," Dr. Hang Xiao, from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey,... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1936433/posts#comment Sat, 8 Dec 2007 00:35:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1929828/posts In early April of 2005, after a particularly rainy spring, an influenza epidemic (epi: upon, demic: people) exploded through the maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane where I have worked for the last ten years. It was not the pandemic (pan: all, demic: people) we all fear, just an epidemic. The world is waiting and governments are preparing for the next pandemic. A severe influenza pandemic will kill many more Americans than died in the World Trade Centers, the Iraq war, the Vietnam War, and Hurricane Katrina combined, perhaps a million people in the USA alone. Such a disaster would... Medical News Today http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1929828/posts#comment Sat, 24 Nov 2007 03:09:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1826996/posts For decades, researchers have puzzled over why rich northern countries have cancer rates many times higher than those in developing countries — and many have laid the blame on dangerous pollutants spewed out by industry. But research into vitamin D is suggesting both a plausible answer to this medical puzzle and a heretical notion: that cancers and other disorders in rich countries aren't caused mainly by pollutants but by a vitamin deficiency known to be less acute or even non-existent in poor nations. Those trying to brand contaminants as the key factor behind cancer in the West are "looking for... Globe and Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1826996/posts#comment Wed, 2 May 2007 05:46:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1900380/posts CORVALLIS, Ore. – Generations of studies on vitamin E may be largely meaningless, scientists say, because new research has demonstrated that the levels of this micronutrient necessary to reduce oxidative stress are far higher than those that have been commonly used in clinical trials. In a new study and commentary in Free Radical Biology and Medicine, researchers concluded that the levels of vitamin E necessary to reduce oxidative stress – as measured by accepted biomarkers of lipid peroxidation – are about 1,600 to 3,200 I.U. daily, or four to eight times higher than those used in almost all past clinical... EurekAlert http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1900380/posts#comment Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:47:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1902064/posts CHICAGO (Reuters) - A diet rich in fish and other sources of omega-3 fatty acids helped cut the risk that children with a family history of diabetes would develop the disease, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. whose study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "It is exciting because it suggests we might be able to develop nutritional interventions to prevent diabetes."Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes in children. It occurs when the immune system goes haywire and starts attacking insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.No one knows exactly what triggers... Reuters via Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1902064/posts#comment Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:34:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1894328/posts Vitamin C can impede the growth of some types of tumors although not in the way some scientists had suspected, researchers reported on Monday. The new research, published in the journal Cancer Cell, supported the general notion that vitamin C and other so-called antioxidants can slow tumor growth, but pointed to a mechanism different from the one many experts had suspected. The researchers generated encouraging results when giving vitamin C to mice that had been implanted with human cancer cells -- either the blood cancer lymphoma or prostate cancer. Another antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine, also limited tumor growth in the mice, the... Reuters via Yahoo! http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1894328/posts#comment Tue, 11 Sep 2007 01:26:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1876543/posts Eating more cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower is associated with a reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Several studies have demonstrated an association between eating vegetables and a reduced risk of prostate cancer, but study results have not been consistent and many have not investigated the association among patients with aggressive prostate cancer. Victoria Kirsh, Ph.D., of Cancer Care Ontario in Toronto and colleagues evaluated the possible association in 1,338 prostate cancer patients diagnosed in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Each of the men completed a 137-item food-frequency questionnaire. They found that eating fruits and... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1876543/posts#comment Sun, 5 Aug 2007 03:52:53 GMT