March eBlast from the Alliance for Natural Health

[Guest guest]

Alliance for Natural Health

Monday, April 03, 2006 11:26 AM

March eBlast from the Alliance for Natural Health

 

 

 

ANH General eBlast

 

March has been a month of high activity in the ANH. We have now

instructed the High Court in the UK that we intend to continue the

final stage of the EU Food Supplements legal challenge; the ANH Avian

Influenza Expert Committee has completed a major report on the use of

natural products in the event of a bird flu pandemic, and; ANH

featured at the Natural Trade Show in Brighton, UK.

 

The Natural Trade Show was well attended and appeared to have grown in

size since last year. As always it was good to put faces to names and

thank you to all those who came by the stand to meet with us. From

the ANH's point of view one of the things we noticed from previous

trade shows, was the greatly increased interest from small innovative

health food and supplement companies, who are more aware than ever

about the risks of `medicalisation' of therapeutic products.

 

Articles and issues of interest

 

24th March: Fish oil may not be so healthy after all says the British

Medical Journal

 

According to a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ),

researchers analysed 89 studies to assess the effects of Omega-3 fats

on death rates, heart disease, cancer and strokes. Their findings

(which we vigorously contest): no strong evidence that Omega-3 fats

had any benefits! It's important to realise that this is not a new

study, but rather a study of studies (a meta-analysis). The

conclusions drawn by the authors are, in our view, deeply misleading.

They ignore the very large body of evidence that shows great benefits

of Omega-3 (especially marine-derived, long chain Omega-3 fatty acids

[EPA and DHA] that are known to be free of mercury and PCB

contamination) with respect to reduced risk of heart disease and

stroke, as well as for proper immune system function. Lee Hooper (lead

author) and colleagues omitted numerous important studies, they

selected studies mainly involving diseased subjects (whose conditions

were likely to have been triggered well before they started

supplementing in the trials), they included great ranges in dosages

(meaning that direct comparisons between studies are of little value)

and they masked the benefits of marine oils by diluting the high

quality studies in with weaker studies assessing affects of non-marine

sources of short-chain Omega-3 fatty acids (e.g., as found in some

margarines).

 

Of interest is the recent release by Norwegian scientists (30th

March), who are developing a chewable Omega-3 candy, stating that

Omega-3-containing products have experienced massive growth in recent

years backed up by scientific research that has linked the fish oils

to a range of health benefits.

 

28th March: Pharmaceuticals Directive ready for transposition in Sweden.

 

Many of you will recall that the European drugs laws (namely the Human

Medicinal Products [Pharmaceuticals] Directive) contain extremely

broad definitions and scope, which in effect, allow regulators to

classify any product used in healthcare, even food or water, as a

drug. Strangely, they choose not to classify alcohol or tobacco as

drugs. As the Swedish text for the transposed Pharmaceuticals

Directive is finalised, it is apparent that there are some further

changes that make matters even worse. There seems to be a clear intent

to trap as many plant extracts and herbs in these drug laws, making it

more or less impossible for food supplement manufacturers to bring

products to the market because of the costs involved in gaining a

medicines licence. These drug laws, which can effectively medicalise

any natural product, and prevent us communicating life-saving

information (even if it's supported by peer reviewed science) needs to

be changed. ANH proposes to challenge this piece of bad law in the

courts in the near future, funds permitting.

 

31st March: Denmark withdraws supplements containing Saw Palmetto.

 

Supplements containing saw palmetto were removed from the market in

Denmark in mid-February. The official reason given was that they were

non-compliant with novel foods legislation, which requires ingredients

not marketed in the EU before 1997 to go through a registration

process. However the actual reason for the withdrawal may be more to

do with trumped up safety concerns. More on this in future eBlasts.

 

 

ANH back to Court for final phase of EU Food Supplements Directive

legal challenge

 

The ANH has confirmed its intention with the High Court in London to

continue and finalise its legal challenge against the EU Food

Supplements Directive (FSD). Despite what has been written by third

parties about this challenge, there are significant discrepancies

between the ruling by the European Court of Justice and the national

statutory instruments (the national laws which reflect the EU

Directive itself). The aim of our case will be to bring the English

statutory instrument in line with the ruling. A successful case will

force similar changes in other EU Member States. This case provides a

critically important precedent for other legislation affecting natural

health in Europe and elsewhere.

 

The ANH finds itself once again in full campaign mode, and, with

regards funding, needs to raise £30,000 to fund the High Court action.

Your support has helped us get this far, we are within 5 metres of

the finishing line and again ask that you help us to cross it.

 

We urgently need your donations! Please send cheques (in GB pounds, US

dollars or Euros) payable to the `Alliance for Natural Health' to the

Alliance for Natural Health, The Atrium, Curtis Road, Dorking, Surrey

RH4 1XA, United Kingdom, or, alternatively, please donate using our

secure server via our website.

 

 

ANH report on role of natural products for countering avian influenza

 

The ANH Avian Influenza Expert Committee was formed in October 2005,

and comprises a range of leading doctors and scientists working in

research or clinical practice. On hearing of the work being undertaken

by the ANH, the World Health Organization, which is overseeing

coordination of pandemic preparedness plans and mitigation strategies,

contacted us and requested sight of the report. The 63-page report,

containing over 250 references to peer-reviewed journals, has now been

provided in confidence to the WHO and will be released in due course.

The report represents a very powerful case for the use of natural

products over pharmaceutical approaches, namely vaccines and

anti-viral drugs.

 

 

ANH on the move

 

9th & 10th April. Natural Products Europe, Trade Show, London, UK.

Rob Verkerk and Dr Damien Downing will be speaking on Monday April

10th 2.30pm for 45 minutes in the Retail Theatre in the Grand Hall.

Come and visit us on Stand No 1971 in the Grand Hall, Olympia, London.

Register here as a visitor free.

 

" Winter colds, influenza or bird flu: The use of natural products in

immune system modulation "

 

Find out why so many people's immune systems struggle to cope with

viral infections. Drs Damien Downing and Rob Verkerk present the

latest evidence on how natural products can be used to modulate the

immune system and show how some well known immune boosters can be

counter-productive. A must for practitioners.

 

19th to 22nd April. Institute for Functional Medicine 13th

International Symposium, Tampa, Florida. Although the ANH is not

represented in the line-up of speakers, Rob Verkerk and Meleni

Aldridge will be in attendance to liaise with key opinion leaders,

practitioners and leading-edge innovative manufacturers. Please do

contact us if you intend to be there and would like to meet with us.

 

A call to URGENT ACTION from you, our Supporters

DONATE NOW

 

As you know, the ANH is a non-profit organisation. We operate entirely

on donations. Without you and your continued financial support we will

be unable to finish what we started almost four years ago when the

threat of the EU Food Supplements Directive first loomed large.

 

Please help in any way you can.

 

We give our sincere thanks to those of you who continue to donate on a

regular basis and would ask those of you that don't as yet, to please

consider making a monthly contribution to us, of whatever amount you

can afford. Any support that you can give us makes a difference.

 

Please also forward this eBlast on to friends and contacts that are

concerned about continuing health freedom and who might be interested

in contributing to our work. It is imperative that we raise the funds

to complete the FSD legal challenge in the UK High Court.

 

As always, your comments are always appreciated and noted and we are

interested in any feedback or suggestions. Thank you to those of you

who continue to email me your comments.

 

In health,

 

Meleni Aldridge

 

Meleni Aldridge

Development Manager

ALLIANCE FOR NATURAL HEALTH

The Atrium, Curtis Road

Dorking, Surrey RH4 1XA

tel +44 (0)1252 371275

dir +44 (0)1306 646550

fax +44 (0)1306 646552

mob +44 (0)7771 750230

email mela

web www.alliance-natural-health.org