Fwd: Please forward this letter so we can set the record straight about dietary supplements!

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Health through education, for a much misguided nation.

 

 

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" Citizens for Health " <info

Wed, 12 Jan 2005 21:23:02 -0500

" William Burgess " <bigbird3969

Please forward this letter so we can set the record straight about

dietary supplements!

 

Dear William,

 

Thank you for taking a stand against inacurate media statements about dietary

supplements. Your action will make a difference

 

Please forward this letter to everyone you can. The media has increased its

negative-to-positive ratio on dietary supplement stories from 2-1 in 1998 to 7-1

in 2002. This negative spin is keeping many consumers from using products to

benefit their health - and their health bottom line. A recent study showed that

by taking a few simple supplements, like calcium, we could reduce the health

care costs in this country by $15 billion. (www.supplementinfo.org) This is

just one study looking at five products. Imagine the difference natural health

approaches could make to enhancing quality of life and simultaneously reducing

costs. But this will be impossible if we allow the media to continue to state

untrue and disparaging information.

 

Take Action Today. It's easy and takes 30 seconds. Just click here to sign on

to our response to Self Magazine's recent article stating that dietary

supplements are unregulated and lack evidence of effectiveness for mood

boosting!

 

Thousands of articles state as fact that " dietary supplements are unregulated "

and lack evidence for effectiveness. This is simply untrue.

 

For too long, these statements have gone unchecked. Now Citizens for Health is

setting up a new program to monitor the media for misinformation and to have

you, the media consumer, express your desire for fact-based and balanced

reporting. Together concerned consumers can put a stop to the constant and

inappropriate media disparagement of beneficial products used safely by tens of

millions of consumers.

 

Send an endorsement or our letter, or write your own letter to Self Magazine.

Just visit the link below!

 

To Sign on to our Letter:

http://www.healthactioncenter.com/action/index.asp?step=2 & item=23428

 

To Write and Send your own Letter:

http://www.healthactioncenter.com/action/index.asp?step=2 & item=23448

 

 

 

 

In Health,

 

Ana Micka

President/CEO

Citizens for Health

 

P.S. These publications will respond to our input because we are their readers

and they even rely on dietary supplement advertising to operate. If we start

making our voices heard and politely and regularly asking them to correct

mis-stated facts about the products we rely on for our health, we can start to

bring about a more positive image for a natural health approach. Send the

letter now!

 

Please forward this letter so we can set the record straight about dietary

supplements!

 

 

Your message below was sent to:

Editors of Self Magazine Self Magazine

 

 

Editors of Self Magazine Self Magazine

Self Magazine

 

 

Editors of Self Magazine

 

I endorse the following letter responding to your recent article incorrectly

stating that herbs are not regulated and there is limited evidence for theif

effectiveness as mood boosters. Please print this letter and present a more

balanced view in the future.

 

Thank you for your consideration.

 

Please print the following letter:

 

In your December 2004 issue you have an article about taking herbal mood

boosters ('happiness q & a'). Writer Catherine Birndorf, MD, dismisses herbs by

saying, " their quality isn't regulated " and " there's far less evidence that

herbal remedies are effective " compared with prescription drugs.

 

This is after she admits that " St. John's wort has been found to ease mild to

moderate depression. " So there is apparently enough evidence for her to make

this statement, but somehow the herb still doesn't meet her standards.

 

That is not logical. Either it's effective or it's not effective. You can't have

it both ways.

 

Other countries have medical monographs for herbs, where St. John's wort

(Hypericum perforatum L.) has been judged as being as effective as drug therapy

for mild depression, with fewer side effects. Between

October 1991 and December 1999, over 8 million patients were treated with St.

John's wort in Germany with only 95 reports of side effects. Yes, it may

interact with some drugs, but so do some foods as well as other drugs. And the

interaction between drugs is often far more dangerous, judging by the

statistics.

 

Drugs are strictly regulated precisely because of their dangers, from side

effects to deaths. By comparison the dangers and side effects of most herbs and

vitamins are tiny. According to a leading medical journal there are well over

100,000 deaths a year among people taking drugs, as directed. Adding in all

medical and drug errors brings the yearly death toll to over 700,000 by some

estimates, over a million by others. The proven death rate from all dietary

supplements is less than ten per average year, according to the American

Association of Poison Control Centers. By this measure, dietary supplements are

far safer than eating a meal, whereas drugs are many times more dangerous!

 

Dr. Birndorf also states that the quality of herbal remedies isn't regulated.

That is complete and utter nonsense, as the FDA is quick to point out:

 

" The dietary supplement manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that a dietary

supplement is safe before it is marketed. FDA is responsible for taking action

against any unsafe dietary supplement product after it reaches the market. FDA's

post-marketing responsibilities include monitoring safety, e.g. voluntary

dietary supplement adverse event reporting, and product information, such as

labeling, claims, package inserts, and accompanying literature. In the case of

some new dietary ingredients, a pre-market safety notification to FDA is

required by law.

 

The agency will continue its ongoing efforts of monitoring and evaluating

product safety, ingredient safety, and product labeling, as well as ensuring

product quality. "

 

While I enthusiastically endorse the doctor's statement that consumers should

always let their health care professional know about which supplements they are

using, as well as her mention of certain herbs as being effective, I strongly

dispute her general characterization of herbs as being unregulated or lacking

good evidence of their effectiveness. That is an all-too-common view among

medical professionals, who think, " if it ain't a drug, it won't fix it " . Both

ginkgo biloba and St. John's wort have collected enough clinical evidence to

convince many medical professionals all over the world. Their potential side

effects are mild compared to what you would expect from drugs, and it's

legitimate to want to try these before getting hooked on prescription drugs for

a lifetime, with their potentially far more deadly risks.

 

Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA

Nutrition Educator

Now Foods

Bloomingdale, IL

 

630-545-9098 ext. 217

nlevin

 

REFERENCES:

1. The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs © 2002 by the American Botanical

Council (ABC).

 

2. European Pharmacopoeia (Ph.Eur., 2001).

 

3. Blumenthal M, Busse WR, Goldberg A, Gruenwald J, Hall T, Riggins CW, Rister

RS, editors. Klein S, Rister RS (trans.). The Complete German Commission E

Monographs-Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines. Austin

(TX): American Botanical Council; Boston (MA): Integrative Medicine

Communication; 1998.

 

4. Wheatley D. LI 160, an extract of St. John's wort, versus amitriptyline in

mildly to moderately depressed outpatients-a controlled 6 week clinical trial.

Pharmacopsychiatry 1997; 30(suppl.):77-80.

 

5. Woelk H. Comparison of St. John's wort and imipramine for treating

depression: randomized controlled trial. BMJ 2000 Sep;321:536-9.

 

6. A total of 11 studies have compared SJW preparations with conventional

antidepressants (7 tricyclic; 4

SSRI) concluding that SJW is effective for mild to moderate depression with a

low side effect profile (Kasper, 2001). (Herbalgram) Kasper S. Hypericum

perforatum- Review of clinical studies. Pharmacopsychiatry 2001;34 Suppl.

1:S51-5.

 

7. In a review of 40 clinical studies conducted through 1991 on the use of

ginkgo for symptoms associated with cerebral insufficiency, eight of the 40

studies met inclusion criteria for a well-designed study (Kleijnen and

Knipschild, 1992). All but one (Hartmann and Frick, 1991) of these eight studies

concluded that ginkgo extract was as effective as co-dergocrine and superior to

placebo. (Herbalgram)

Kleijnen J, Knipschild P. Ginkgo biloba for cerebral insufficiency. Br J Clin

Pharmac 1992;34:352-8.

 

8. Meta analysis: All relevant, unconfounded, randomized, double-blind

controlled studies, in which extracts of Ginkgo biloba at any strength and over

any period were compared with placebo for their effects on people with acquired

cognitive impairment, including dementia, of any degree of

severity. Ginkgo biloba appears to be safe in use with no excess side effects

compared with placebo. Overall there is promising evidence of improvement in

cognition and function associated with Ginkgo. Birks J, Grimley Evans J. Ginkgo

Biloba for cognitive impairment and dementia (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane

Library, Issue 4, 2004.Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

 

9. WATSON ET AL ¦ 2003 AAPCC ANNUAL REPORT

The American Journal of Emergency Medicine (22(5):335-404, 2004)

 

10. (Average 1982-1998): According to Canadian researchers, approximately

32,000 hospitalized patients (and possibly as many as 106,000) in the USA die

each year because of adverse reactions to their prescribed medications.

Source: Lazarou, J, Pomeranz, BH, Corey, PN, " Incidence of adverse drug

reactions in hospitalized patients: a meta-analysis of prospective studies, "

Journal of the American Medical Association (Chicago, IL: American Medical

Association, 1998), 1998;279:1200-1205, also letters

column, " Adverse Drug Reactions in Hospitalized Patients, " JAMA (Chicago, IL:

AMA, 1998), Nov. 25, 1998, Vol. 280, No. 20, from the web at

http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v280n20/ffull/jlt1125-1.html, last

accessed Feb. 12, 2001.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

William Burgess

2515 Detroit St

Portsmouth, VA 23707-1723

USA

bigbird3969

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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