Severe joint pain is a common side-effect of tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer, and it is associated with vitamin D deficiency. Supplementation aimed at pushing serum vitamin D levels over 40 ng/ml can prevent or attenuate the pain.
Calorie restriction—by as much as 50%-70% of normal intake—is the only intervention consistently proven to extend lifespan. But that’s not a realistic treatment option for most people. Fortunately, natural substances including resveratrol, carnosine, and carnitine can mimic the beneficial effects of calorie restriction.
Despite the Institute of Medicine’s recent report, many nutrition-minded oncologists believe high-dose vitamin D supplementation—upwards of 4,000 IU/day—has potential to markedly reduce risk of primary breast cancer as well as breast cancer recurrence, with minimal risk of toxicity.
The Institute of Medicine’s Nov. 30 consensus statement claiming most Americans do not need supplemental vitamin D—a position that runs counter to the views of many clinicians and researchers⎯has some folks wondering if committee members had preexisting biases or vested interests against supplementation.
It turns out that at least two members of the committee hold patents on synthetic vitamin D analogs in development or already on the market as prescription drugs, and significant relationships with companies involved in vitamin D drug development.
Written for busy practitioners who need reliable but clinically-relevant information to guide patient care, Dr. Alan Gaby’s new, Nutritional Medicine, extensive combines literature reviews, case reports, thorough background material and a lifetime of clinical experience. Here are a few excerpts from this landmark textbook.
Gaia Herbs, based in western North Carolina, has had a longstanding commitment to organic farming and rigorous quality control in the making of its botanical medicines. The company’s new “Meet Your Herbs” enables practitioners and consumers trace each product from farm to pharmacy.
Grassroots pressure forced Sens. John McCain and Byron Dorgan to withdraw their bill to tighten supplement industry regulation. But leaders in the field say the war has only just begun. Rep. Henry Waxman, an outspoken critic of supplements, has written language in the Wall Street Reform bill that would give the Federal Trade Commission new authority over the industry. Meanwhile Rep. Ron Paul is pushing bills that would curb federal power over health information.
A new program from the Food & Drug Administration is calling on physicians to report about misleading messages from pharmaceutical company reps, especially during private “detailing” visits.
The first wave of data from FDA’s new Adverse Events Reporting System for dietary supplements shows two important things: The system works, enabling the FDA to act quickly when there’s evidence of life-threatening side effects; and serious adverse events are rare given how widely supplements are used.
A new study
shows that tocotrienols, an important component of naturally occurring Vitamin E, can prevent neural damage following ischemic stroke, potentially improving post-stroke outcomes.
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