Guest guest Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:15:59 -0500 HSI - Jenny Thompson Pyc a Little, Talk a Little Pyc a Little, Talk a Little Health Sciences Institute e-Alert January 22, 2004 ************************************************************** Dear Reader, The Polypill now has a natural counterpart. Remember the Polypill? It's the pharmaceutical (still in the development stage) designed to prevent some of the symptoms associated with heart disease. In the e-Alert " With a Capital T, That Rhymes with P " (6/30/03), I told you about the planned contents for the Polypill: a statin drug to lower cholesterol, three different drugs (including an ACE inhibitor) to control blood pressure, a low dose of aspirin, and folic acid to reduce homocysteine levels. The Polypill developers envision a super pill that would be prescribed to everyone over the age of 55. That's right: everyone - even if you don't have high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, or any other indications of heart problems. For those who avoid taking drugs except when absolutely necessary, this one-size-fits-all concept is ludicrous. What makes it truly scary is that it was touted in the British Medical Journal as one of the most important developments in the past 50 years. But now the Polypill has competition from an all-natural source that's worlds safer than a bubbling cauldron of expensive drugs. ----------------------------- Tall claims ----------------------------- Pycnogenol is a pine bark extract harvested from a coastal forest in southwest France. A natural antioxidant, Pycnogenol contains a variety of polyphenols that have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects that may provide a wide range of protection to the cardiovascular system. A review of Pycnogenol research appears in the premier issue of the new journal Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine. Ronald Watson, Ph.D., (a research professor at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center) makes the case that Pycnogenol, " has the potential to counteract all important cardiovascular risk factors simultaneously. " That's a pretty tall claim - just as tall as the Polypill claims. The difference is that, while the Polypill's benefits are only theory, Pycnogenol trials have already shown that supplements of the extract may improve blood circulation, relax artery constriction and reduce platelet activity - all with a minimum of side effects. ------------------------------ Smokin' ----------------------------- Some of the research on Pycnogenol has been conducted by Dr. Watson himself. In a 1999 trial reported in Thrombosis Research, Dr. Watson's Arizona Prevention Center team tested the effects of Pycnogenol against aspirin with a group of 38 cigarette smokers. Smokers were used in the study because smoking increases the dangerous aggregation of blood platelets, providing the researchers with a way to assess how aggregation might be affected. Subjects were given either 500 mg of aspirin, or 125 mg of Pycnogenol. After taking their doses, subjects smoked in order to increase the clumping of blood platelets. Within two hours, blood was drawn from each subject to evaluate platelet aggregation. With both Pycnogenol and aspirin, platelet aggregation was significantly reduced. The primary difference between the two agents was bleeding. Aspirin increased bleeding while Pycnogenol did not. ----------------------------- The new " wonder drug " ? ----------------------------- Pycnogenol isn't new to HSI members. In the July 1998 Members Alert, we compared Pycnogenol's powerful antioxidant qualities to two of the antioxidant all-stars: glutathione and coenzyme Q10. And in May 2002, William Campbell Douglass, M.D., told Daily Dose readers how Pycnogenol might compete with aspirin as the " wonder drug " of the century. In that Daily Dose, Dr. Douglass described a study of 30 subjects who were given Pycnogenol, while 10 were given placebo. When compared with the placebo group, those in the Pycnogenol group had significant reduction in venous pressure, capillary leakage and blood vessel inflammation. Researchers concluded that Pycnogenol should be recommended for the prevention and treatment of chronic venous insufficiency. This research also reported no danger of side effects or changes in blood biochemistry. ------------------------------ More to come ----------------------------- As I've expressed in previous e-Alerts, be suspicious of any treatments - natural or pharmaceutical - that claim to be cure-alls or insist one-size-fits-all. So while the reports on Pycnogenol are clearly promising, more testing needs to be done before we can regard it as an across-the-board preventive for heart disease. In the meantime, I'd be very interested in hearing from any HSI members who have tried Pycnogenol. And I'll also continue to keep an eye out for further Pycnogenol studies, which I'm sure we'll see many of in the coming years. ************************************************************** To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealert/freecopy.html Or forward this e-mail to a friend so they can sign-up to receive their own copy of the HSI e-Alert. ************************************************************** ... and another thing In the e-Alert " Flick of the Wrist " (1/19/04) I told you how thousands of unintentional acetaminophen overdoses account for about 100 deaths each year - most of them as a result of liver failure. Fortunately, in treating headaches, fever, muscle aches, menstrual cramps and toothaches, there are many alternatives to acetaminophen that are much safer for this critical organ. For instance, the herb white willow is an anti-inflammatory pain reliever that has compounds similar to aspirin. In fact, white willow's salicylic acid is the parent compound of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Salicylic acid, however, has the benefit of being less abrasive to the stomach and intestine. And a 2002 study published in the journal Rheumatology, showed an extract of willow tree bark to be as effective as a prescription drug in the treatment of lower back pain. Other herbs that have been used to treat headache pain include meadowsweet, valerian, passionflower, skullcap, chamomile, and ginkgo. A standout among these is feverfew, which has been used with success to alleviate the effects of migraine headaches. As with white willow, feverfew has anti- inflammatory properties. Another recent study, published in Phytomedicine, showed that an extract of the herb devil's claw successfully treated hip, knee, and lower back pain. Researchers believe that further studies may also show that it slows the joint deterioration associated with arthritis. And once again, it's the herb's ability to curb inflammation that makes it effective. Finally, there are some common nutrients that are useful in preventing headaches: calcium, magnesium and niacin may help relax muscles that often contribute to headaches. And supplements of omega-3 essential fatty acids and coenzyme Q10 both deliver antioxidants that can ease the stress of headache and muscle pains. Kept healthy, your liver can do something amazing - it can partly regenerate itself. If as much as a quarter of the liver is removed, it can grow back to both its original size and shape. But only a healthy liver can perform this amazing feat, and no liver can stay healthy if it's bombarded with acetaminophen. So try some of these natural alternatives for minor pain relief so your liver will be in the best of health for when you really need it. To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute ************************************************************** Sources: Pycnogenol and Cardiovascular Health " Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2003, openmindjournals.com " Pycnogenol Could Act as 'Polypill' " NutraIngredients.com, 12/8/03, nutraingredients.com " UA Researcher Suggests Natural Supplement Pycnogenol May Help Prevent Cause of Many Heart Attacks, Strokes " The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, 5/26/98, ahsc.Arizona.edu " Inhibition of Smoking-Induced Platelet Aggregation by Aspirin and Pycnogenol " Thrombosis Research, Vol. 95, No. 4, 1999, sciencedirect.com Copyright ©1997-2004 by www.hsibaltimore.com, L.L.C. 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