QualityCounts.com Newsletter of 8/21/02

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Fish Oil Supplements: Too Toxic? - Dr. Weil, 8/21/02 - "she notes that results from a study published in 1998 indicate that tests of 44 different brands sold in 15 countries between 1994 and 1995 revealed appreciable quantities of organochlorines including PCBs and pesticide residues ... Ms. Johnson recommends them [omega-3] to those with autoimmune or inflammatory disorders, heart disease, diabetes, mental or emotional disorders, or insulin resistance ... Choose a brand that provides high levels of both EPA AND DHA in the least number of capsules" - Related article:

Air Pollutants Tied to Death Risk in Severe Asthma - ABC News, 8/20/02 - "researchers focused on severe asthmatics and their exposure to two major air pollutants: nitrogen dioxide, a chemical spewed from both automobiles and power plants; and ozone, a chemical formed when sunlight reacts with other air pollutants ... deaths among their study patients were correlated with atmosphere concentrations of the two air pollutants"

Soy May Help Keep Postmenopausal Arteries Healthy - ABC News, 8/20/02 - "phytoestrogens were associated with less artery stiffness among more than 400 postmenopausal women. The benefit was most pronounced among the oldest women, or those who had been postmenopausal the longest ... Phytoestrogens, plant-based estrogen-like compounds found in soy, may mimic the beneficial effects of estrogen on the heart, some research suggests. Soy also contains antioxidants--compounds that neutralize disease-causing free radicals before they can damage cells"

Ginkgo Doesn't Help Memory - WebMD, 8/20/02 - "Ginkgo was found to have no impact on memory or learning in a group of healthy older adults who took it for six weeks" - See my ginkgo page for other studies on ailments besides memory. I'm not a doctor but that's not stopping me from taking ginkgo. Ginkgo is an antioxidant. If you're link me and believe that memory loss is partially do to free radical damage, it would make sense that ginkgo might help prevent memory loss long term. It would also make sense that if memory loss was partially caused by free radical damage, ginkgo or anything else would not reverse that damage. The media always seems to report things in black and white. The JAMA abstract didn't mention which ginkgo extract was used in the study. At least in the case of St. John's wort, extracts are not interchangeable [see "Conclusion"]. See the following article, which I feel the media should have mentioned:

St. John's Wort and Chemo Don't Mix - WebMD, 8/20/02 - "Taking St. John's wort during chemotherapy could jeopardize the effectiveness of cancer treatment" - Again, I'm not a doctor but the way I understand it, SJW increases an enzyme that protects the liver. It seems like that would be a good thing for most people. Again, why didn't the media mention that instead of being so one sided?

A Supplement to Prevent Alzheimer’s - Dr. Weil, 8/20/02 - "In theory, PS works by strengthening cell membranes thus protecting them and their contents from damage, particularly from the stress hormone cortisol"

Cholesterol drug cited in nerve study - USA Today, 8/21/02 - "The drugs, called statins, raise a person's risk of nerve damage by nearly 15%, or roughly one case for every 2,200 patients age 50 or older"

Simple Test Signals Heart Attack Risk - ABC News, 8/19/02 - "in the last two years, researchers say the evidence of inflammation's role has become overwhelming ... Studies show that once it is detected, inflammation can be treated effectively by drugs commonly used to treat high cholesterol, like Lipitor and Zocor, as well as aspirin, exercise and weight loss" - See my inflammation page for other ways to reduce it.

Honey, Almonds Lower Cholesterol - WebMD, 8/19/02 - "honey contains about the same level of antioxidants as many fruits and vegetables such as spinach, apples, bananas, oranges, and strawberries ... the participants ate a large dose of almonds (about 2 handfuls) that accounted for a little less than a quarter of their total day's worth of calories. In the next month, they ate a smaller dose (one handful) of almonds ... LDL levels were lowered by an average of 4.4% with the smaller portion of almonds and by 9.4% with the larger portion" - I'm not a doctor but I wouldn't recommend either. I'd worry that honey, having a high glycemic index, might decrease insulin sensitivity if used long term. As for almonds, I doubt if I would have the discipline to cut enough out of my diet to make up or the calories of the almonds. - Ben

Antibiotics Aid Heart Patients - WebMD, 8/19/02 - "A year later, those who received an antibiotic were 36% less likely to be rehospitalized for a heart attack or chest pain than those who took a placebo ... The question, Mendall says, is whether the antibiotics are working by fighting infection or inflammation in these patients"

Blueberries May Help Old Folks Keep Their Smarts - ABC News, 8/19/02 - "fruit reduces aging-related damage in rat brains, and can also prevent mental decline in mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer's-like plaques in their brains ... Cell-damaging products of normal metabolism known as free radicals can injure tissue, an effect known as oxidative damage. Antioxidants -- found in several fruits and vegetables, including blueberries -- help prevent this damage, which has been implicated in a number of conditions including cancer, Alzheimer's and heart disease. Oxidative damage is also a factor in aging"

Watermelon may help fight cancer - MSNBC, 8/19/02 - "In a large Harvard University study, the risk of prostate cancer was a third lower in men who ate the most tomato products compared to men who ate the least, and many researchers believe lycopene was the reason ... the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) tested 13 varieties of watermelon for lycopene content and found that watermelon contains more than tomatoes do"

New Broccoli Compound Appears Promising Against Breast Cancer - Intelihealth, 8/19/02 - "Called oxomate, the synthetic compound works like its natural counterpart, sulforaphane, which was recently identified as a cancer-preventive agent in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables (such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts). Both compounds boost the body's production of phase II enzymes, which can detoxify cancer-causing chemicals and reduce cancer risk ... But the natural broccoli compound, sulforaphane, can be toxic in high doses ... It is also difficult and expensive to synthesize ... oxomate was seven times less toxic than sulforaphane ... In tests on female rats, those that were fed oxomate after exposure to cancer-inducing chemicals had up to a 50 percent reduction in the number of breast tumors"

Red Clover May Tame Hot Flashes - WebMD, 8/16/02 - "Promensil is an isoflavone supplement produced from red clover and contains the same key isoflavones commonly found in soy foods. Isoflavones are plant compounds -- found commonly in soy -- that act like weak form of the female sex hormone estrogen ... Only red clover contains all four isoflavones that women need ... 30 women were given either 40 mg of Promensil or a placebo for 16 weeks. The group taking Promensil reported a 48% reduction in frequency of hot flashes, whereas the control group had an 11% decrease" - See iHerb (5% discount code "qc"), Vitacost and VitaminShoppe Promensil products.

New Pain Meds Treat Spread of Colon Cancer in Mice - ABC News, 8/15/02 - "giving COX-2 to mice with colon cancer that had spread to their livers shrank the animals' liver tumors ... In addition, when they added the COX-2 inhibitor to a Petri dish containing a strain of colon cancer cells, the researchers found that the treatment prevented the multiplication and spread of the malignant cells"

Stress May Increase Breast Cancer Risk in Daughters of Breast Cancer Patients - Medscape, 8/14/02 - "Daughters of breast cancer patients are under persistent increased emotional distress. This, in turn, has affected some of their immune functions and the secretion of stress hormones (cortisol and catecholamines)," ... As a result, one of the main immune surveillance mechanisms, namely natural cytotoxic activity against cancer (natural killer-resistant) cells, is severely impaired"

Natural Remedies for Osteoarthritis: Now, More than Ever - New Hope Natural Media, 8/15/02 - "The most widely used product is glucosamine sulfate. Numerous studies have shown that this substance, which helps rebuild damaged cartilage, relieves pain at least as effectively as NSAIDs, and is relatively free of side effects ... Chondroitin sulfate, a component of the connective tissue that makes up joint cartilage, has also been studied extensively ... Some doctors recommend niacinamide (vitamin B3) ... Other natural substances that have been reported to relieve the symptoms of OA include vitamin E (600 to 1,200 IU per day), Devil's claw, cat's claw and ginger root" - They left out omega-3.

More Data Shows Additive Benefits of Aspirin - Medscape Cardiology, 8/2/02 - "aspirin may be able to protect blood vessels from the deleterious effects of inflammation and infection, 2 factors thought to initiate and promote atherosclerosis ... Aspirin may also have a preventive benefit among patients at high risk of ischemic stroke ... patients who took low-dose aspirin before going to bed had a significantly greater reduction in blood pressure than those who took aspirin at other times of the day ... aspirin prevention therapy is best suited for people at high risk of developing CHD (those with a 5-year risk of >/= 3%), since the benefits of aspirin use in this patient population significantly outweigh the risks"

Options for Treatment-Resistant Depression - Psychiatric Times, 7/02 - "Use of T3 may interfere with thyroid metabolism if taken chronically, so its use should generally be limited to two or three weeks. Doses of T3 between 25 mcg/day to 50 mcg/day are more effective than T4"

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