Business Weak

[Guest guest]

" HSI - Jenny Thompson " <HSIResearch

HSI e-Alert - Business Weak

Tue, 28 Jun 2005 17:43:25 -0400

HSI e-Alert - Business Weak

 

 

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

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June 28, 2005

 

 

 

Dear Reader,

 

If you were looking for business advice would you drop by your local

deli and ask for investing tips from the guy who makes your sandwich?

Sure, he might know as much about the corporate world as Donald Trump,

but he's more likely to have a valid expert opinion about what types

of peppers go best on a veggie sub.

 

So if you wanted advice on dietary supplements, would you go looking

for it in Business Week magazine? Absolutely...if you were interested

in tracking investment opportunities in the supplement biz. But health

advice? Mmm...not so much.

 

When it comes to health matters, Business Week is a really good

business magazine.

 

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One little omission

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As you've probably figured out, I came across an article about dietary

supplements in a recent issue of Business Week. And it was...how shall

I put it nicely? Well...I can't put it nicely. Let's just say if this

article is balanced or even well researched, the sky is lime green.

 

Things actually started off pretty well in Business Week's health

section. In an article about over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, I found

some revealing information. According to a 2003 poll by Harris

Interactive, more than 70 percent of OTC drug buyers don't read dosage

instructions. And only 20 percent of those buyers check the package to

read about potential side effects. (Of course, this could have

something to do with the fact that the printing on most of those

packages is small enough to be undetectable to the human eye.)

 

Then the article starts to warm up with details about the dangers of

acetaminophen, the active ingredient of Tylenol and many other OTC

medications. In several e-Alerts I've told you how acetaminophen can

trigger acute liver toxicity. In 2003, an FDA review estimated that

there are more than 14,000 unintentional overdoses of acetaminophen

every year, with about 100 of those cases resulting in death. (As a

side note, a doctor I had dinner with last night said he sees more

acetaminophen overdoses in the emergency room than any other drug -

including cocaine and heroin.) But the OTC article doesn't mention a

word about acetaminophen-related deaths.

 

Why soft pedal that information? Well, maybe it's all about respect.

The article ends with a reminder that many OTC products started out as

prescription drugs. The tag line: " So show some respect. " But that's

where respect runs out of gas, because the very next article, which

begins on the same page, is titled " Supplements: Buyer Beware. "

 

Suddenly you can smell a lack of respect coming a mile away.

 

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It's going to get ugly

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" Are they safe? Do they work? " Those two hypothetical questions about

dietary supplements are posed by Stuart Bondurant, M.D., the executive

dean of Georgetown University Medical Center. His answer: " We don't

really know what the risks or health effects, positive or negative, are. "

 

Now you might think that because Dr. Bondurant holds a prominent

position in the medical mainstream he's just not motivated to read the

hundreds of studies about dietary supplements that are published every

year. But Dr. Bondurant is also the committee chairman of a National

Academy of Sciences report on alternative medicine. So he of all

people should be aware that we actually know quite a bit about the

risks and health effects of supplements.

 

And then, of course, ephedra - the sad little whipping boy of herbals

- is dragged out for a fresh clubbing. The FDA, we're told, had to

work YEARS to gather the necessary evidence to ban ephedra products,

which were linked to " dozens of deaths. "

 

Ooooookay. Here we go. Ephedra products caused dozens of deaths, but

no mention at all of the ongoing hundreds of acetaminophen-related

deaths? There's nothing amusing about untimely deaths, but what is

amusing is the chart titled " Over-the-Counter Complications " that

accompanies the OTC article. Seven OTC drugs are highlighted for

potential problems, including pseudoephedrine, " commonly found in

Sudafed and other decongestants. "

 

Know what pseudoephedrine is? Take a close look at the word. It's a

synthetic form of ephedrine, which is a dangerously hyped up version

of ephedra. Whenever someone wants to cast doubts about dietary

supplements they point to the demon ephedra, which our FDA

" protectors " have banned. But in fact, the truly dangerous form of

ephedra is still widely available, in any quantity you'd like, as

pseudoephedrine.

 

Another detail the OTC article doesn't recognize is that many OTC

products and prescription drugs started out as safe herbal treatments,

such as ephedra.

 

So, you know, show some respect.

 

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Business quips

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I could go on and on about the inaccuracies and half-truths I found

throughout this relatively brief article. But I can't resist singling

out this priceless quote:

 

" Overall, with the exception of a few powerful substances like

ephedra, quips a former FDA official, 'the biggest harm from

supplements is to Americans' wallets.' "

 

Hilarious! Those former FDA officials are always firing off

knee-slapping quips! But the really funny thing about this one is that

pharmaceuticals are so outrageously expensive that healthcare costs in

the U.S. are at an all time high. Meanwhile, the " wallets " of

international drug giants are stuffed to overflowing with more and

more billions in profits every year.

 

Now THERE'S a good business angle that Business Week could feature:

For safety and economy Americans are turning to alternative healthcare

in droves.

 

 

 

....and another thing

 

" B-6 is fabulous stuff! "

 

That enthusiastic opinion - from HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D. -

appeared in the e-Alert " B+ " (5/17/05) about a Brigham and Women's

Hospital and Harvard Medical School study that examined ten years of

blood samples provided by more than 31,800 subjects in the Nurses'

Health Study. Researchers found a clear association between high B-6

levels and a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

 

Meanwhile, researchers in Sweden were on the same track.

 

As reported in the June 2005 issue of Gastroenterology, a team from

Karolinska Institute in Stockholm used food frequency questionnaires

over a 15-year period to assess colorectal cancer risk in more than

60,000 women.

 

The results confirmed the Brigham and Women's findings: Long-term

intake of dietary vitamin B-6 was significantly associated with a

decreased risk of colorectal cancer when compared to women who had the

least amount of B-6 in their diets.

 

Fabulous stuff, indeed. Vitamin B-6 has also been shown to help

prevent heart disease, relieve morning sickness, provide relief from

carpal tunnel syndrome and enhance brain function by assisting in

neurotransmitter development.

 

If you'd like to include yourself in the group that has the highest

intake of vitamin B-6, just add more bananas, spinach, avocado,

poultry, fish, meat and beans to your diet.

 

And it appears that an occasional cocktail or a glass of wine might

help as well. Women in the Stockholm study who had plenty of B-6 in

their diets and also drank two or more alcoholic beverages per week

had an even greater reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

Health Sciences Institute

 

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Sources:

" Counter Intelligence " Carol Marie Cropper, Business Week, Pg. 116,

5/23/05, businessweek.com

Supplements: Buyer Beware " John Carey, Business Week, Pg. 118,

5/23/05, businessweek.com

" Vitamin B6 Intake, Alcohol Consumption, and Colorectal Cancer: A

Longitudinal Population-Based Cohort of Women " Gastroenterology, Vol.

128, No. 7, June 2005, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

" Vitamin B6 May Reduce Colon Cancer Risk in Women " Reuters Health,

6/13/05, reutershealth.com

 

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