Echinacea preparations are extensively used for the prevention and the management of the common cold. Despite this popularity, the clinical studies on Echinacea have produced mixed results, possibly in part because of the poor characterization of the extracts investigated and the use of different species and/or plant parts for the preparations investigated in the various trials. To address this issue, Polinacea, a highly standardized extract from a well-defined botanical source (roots of Echinacea angustifolia) with a specific phytochemical profile (presence of the complex polysaccharide IDN5405, the phenylethanoid echinacoside, and substantial lack of alkamides) was developed. We have studied whether Polinacea could enhance the immune response subsequent to the influenza vaccination, and whether the use of this preparation could translate into a decreased morbidity from influenza. The preliminary results were encouraging, and suggest that Polinacea could be used for improving the immune response to influenza vaccine.
The rates of asthma and allergy (Type 1 hypersensitivity disorders) have been increasing worldwide for the last few decades. Various theories have been proposed to account for this alarming trend. One of these is the impact of environmental toxicants. Epidemiological research has correlated exposure to environmental chemicals (such as pesticides, solvents, and air pollutants) with increasing rates of both asthma and allergies. Research has documented chemicals as causal agents capable of producing immune system imbalances characteristic of type 1 hypersensitivity. In vitro studies and in vivo animal models have demonstrated that many of the environmental chemicals and pollutants that have been epidemiologically associated with increased allergic tendency have been shown to enhance Type 2 helper T cell (Th2) dominance, which is consistent with the T-helper cell pattern found in asthma, allergic rhinitis, and other Type 1 hypersensitivity disorders. Depletion of glutathione is one possible mechanism for this T-helper cell imbalance. Preliminary evidence suggests the possibility that repletion of glutathione levels (with oral supplementation of N-acetylcysteine), and enhancement of glutathione transferase function (using sulforaphanes), might be therapeutic options for countering type 1 hypersensitivity disorders caused by environmental chemicals.
BACKGROUND:Postnatal exposure to perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs) is associated with lower serum concentrations of specific antibodies against certain childhood vaccines at 7 y.OBJECTIVES:We prospectively followed a Faroese birth cohort to determine these associations at 13 y.METHODS:In 516 subjects (79% of eligible cohort members) who were 13 years old, serum concentrations of PFASs and of antibodies against diphtheria and tetanus were measured and were compared with data from the previous examination at 7 y. Multiple regression analyses and structural equation models were applied to determine the association between postnatal PFAS exposures and antibody concentrations.RESULTS:Serum concentrations of PFASs and antibodies generally declined from 7 y to 13 y. However, 68 subjects had visited the emergency room and had likely received a vaccination booster, and a total of 202 children showed higher vaccine antibody concentrations at 13 y than at 7 y. Therefore, separate analyses were conducted after exclusion of these two subgroups. Diphtheria antibody concentrations decreased at elevated PFAS concentrations at 13 y and 7 y; the associations were statistically significant for perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) at 7 y and for perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) at 13 y, both suggesting a decrease by ∼25% for each doubling of exposure. Structural equation models showed that a doubling in PFAS exposure at 7 y was associated with losses in diphtheria antibody concentrations at 13 y of 10–30% for the five PFASs. Few associations were observed for anti-tetanus concentrations.CONCLUSIONS:These results are in accord with previous findings of PFAS immunotoxicity at current exposure levels. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP275.
Stress and anxiety have been implicated as contributors to many chronic diseases and to decreased quality of life, even with pharmacologic treatment. Efforts are underway to find non-pharmacologic therapies to relieve stress and anxiety, and yoga is one option for which results are promising. The focus of this review is on the results of human trials assessing the role of yoga in improving the signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety. Of 35 trials addressing the effects of yoga on anxiety and stress, 25 noted a significant decrease in stress and/or anxiety symptoms when a yoga regimen was implemented; however, many of the studies were also hindered by limitations, such as small study populations, lack of randomization, and lack of a control group. Fourteen of the 35 studies reported biochemical and physiological markers of stress and anxiety, but yielded inconsistent support of yoga for relief of stress and anxiety. Evaluation of the current primary literature is suggestive of benefits of yoga in relieving stress and anxiety, but further investigation into this relationship using large, well-defined populations, adequate controls, randomization and long duration should be explored before recommending yoga as a treatment option.
OBJECTIVE:To examine the effects of nutritional supplement therapy on oxidant-antioxidant status, inflammation and immune system responses, pulmonary function, and health-related quality of life in patients with mild to moderate allergic asthma. METHODS:Adult asthma patients (n=30) received daily multiple nutrient supplements for two months. Age- and gender-matched healthy controls (n=30) did not receive any supplements. Enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant status, malondialdehyde (MDA), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), immunoglobulin E (IgE) and T-lymphocyte subsets, pulmonary function indices, as well as scores for asthma control and quality of life, were assessed at baseline, at one month of treatment, and at two months of treatment, which was also the end of the study. RESULTS:At baseline, asthma patients had significantly higher IgE, MDA, copper (Cu), hs-CRP, and CD19 and CD4/CD8 lymphocyte ratios, and decreased selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), β-carotene, vitamins C and E, and catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities compared to healthy controls (p < 0.05). During the study period, asthmatics showed non-significantly increased pulmonary function and a trend toward lower IgE levels, markedly reduced MDA, Cu, hs-CRP, and CD19 and CD4/CD8 ratios, and increases in levels of Se, Zn, β-carotene, vitamins C and E, and enzymatic antioxidant activities. Also, their asthma control and health-related quality-of-life scores increased significantly by the end of the study. CONCLUSION:Our results indicate that nutritional supplement therapy may improve dysregulated oxidant and antioxidant status, inflammation and immune responses, pulmonary function, and health-related quality of life in patients with mild to moderate allergic asthma.
Dateline NBC weaved their way through a report beginning with the results of an improperly mixed dietary supplement (DS), which led to disastrous consequences. The episode ended with the exposure of a major problem in the DS industry – fraudulent laboratory analysis by " independent laboratories. " This is the very same problem reported in Alternative Medicine Review (AMR) eight years ago (Volume 9, Number 4, 2004) in my editorial entitled " Bursting the Analytical Bubble. " Having authored more than a dozen editorials on DS quality control problems rampant in the industry, I know the problem has not gone away and has been consistently ignored by the DS industry for years. Perhaps this news story will be a kick in the pants. The Dateline episode began with the life changing consequences of mistakenly putting toxic levels of selenium in a product. This mistake was due to an improper level of selenium called for in the master formula for the product in question. The interviews with the victims, complete with documented hair and fingernail loss and medical nightmares, are heartbreaking. The rest of the episode documents how the analytical quality-control standards, which should have been in place, failed. The liquid vitamin product, Total Body Formula purchased from General Nutrition Center (GNC), was eventually subject to a recall effort after consumer symptoms caused alarm. The raw material supplier of the selenium, Wright Enrichment, upon learning about the problem, allegedly produced a false certificate of analysis showing acceptable selenium levels, without having an actual laboratory test run. TexAmerican Food Blending was responsible for the blending of the final liquid product. Interviews on camera by the production manager reveal that upon finding " black specks " in the liquid product, the employees strained the product through " women's panty hose " into buckets to try and remove the contamination. BUT, what if the raw material supplier, the blender, and the final retail sales giant had submitted the ingredient, the in-process product, and the final product to an independent laboratory for analysis? The problem would have been solved, correct? Well, not necessarily. As the Dateline investigation continued, they carefully set up a sting operation for the laboratory director, Dinesh Patel (Patel), who did the fraudulent analysis mentioned in my AMR editorial (Bursting the Analytical Bubble), albeit under the guise of a new company, now Atlas Bioscience. Her husband was abusing their daughter, or, perhaps …
INTRODUCTION:Our objective was to determine whether a three-week complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approach integrating several therapies from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) along with neural therapy (injection of 1% procaine as local anesthesia) reduces the level of unresolved pain associated with herpes zoster.METHODS:The design was a randomized controlled clinical trial in a community-based primary care clinic in Toronto, Ontario. We studied individuals 18 years of age and older with a confirmed diagnosis of herpes zoster of at least 30 days duration and with at least moderate postherpetic neuralgia pain (≥4) on a 10-point Likert scale. The CAM therapies used were acupuncture, neural therapy (1% procaine injection as a local anesthetic), cupping and bleeding, and TCM herbs. An immediate treatment group (n=32) received the CAM intervention once daily, five days per week, for three weeks. A wait-list (delayed treatment) group (n=27) was used as a control and received the same treatment starting three weeks after randomization. This three-week time period, when one group was receiving active CAM treatment and the other was not, was used as basis of comparison for treatment effects between groups. Pain, quality of life, and depression were measured at baseline, and three, six, and nine weeks post-randomization. Patients were followed for up to two years.RESULTS:Participants had a mean age of 69.8 years (SD=11.1) and had had herpes zoster-related pain for a median of 4.8 months (range: 1 month to 15 years). The immediate treatment and control groups had similar pain levels at baseline (treatment = 7.5; control = 7.8; p=0.5; scores based on the 10-point Likert pain scale). At three weeks post-randomization (i.e., after the immediate treatment group completed treatment) pain scores differed significantly (treatment = 2.3; control = 7.2; p<0.001). The observed reduction in pain in the immediate treatment group was maintained at nine weeks and at long-term follow-up (one to two years later). The delayed treatment (control) group also had significant reductions in pain after their integrated CAM treatment was completed.CONCLUSION:The described CAM protocol was associated with significantly reduced sub-acute and chronic post-herpes zoster neuralgia pain within three weeks of initiating treatment. Improvements persisted for up to two years.
Copaiba oil-resin is widely used in traditional medicine due to its anti-inflammatory, healing, and antiseptic activities. This research aims to extract and evaluate the qualitative and quantitative composition of copaiba essential oil from the oil-resin, and test its effects, after incorporation in a gel applied in volunteers with acne, in a double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial. The essential oil was extracted by steam distillation, and purified by freezing to remove the residual remnant water. The density of the essential oil was gravimetrically determined by weighing 1 mL of liquid at 20 degree C. The identification of the essential oil components was carried out through high-resolution gas chromatography analysis, coupled with mass spectrometry. The essential oil has a density of 0.9175 mg/mL and was composed of 48 substances, 14 of which were the major components representing 95.80% of total essential oil composition. Cis-thujopsene was the main component (46.96% of total essential oil composition). The surface affected with acne decreased when treated with placebo (F = 13.931, p = 0.001, r = 0.518; r2 = 0.268), but the linear model could explain only 26.8% of total variance in original data matrix. There was a highly significant decrease in the surface affected with acne in the areas treated with the 1.0% copaiba essential oil preparation (F = 86.494, p = 0.000, r = 0.834; r2 = 0.695).
Rates of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), both in the United States and worldwide, have been rising at an alarming rate over the last two decades. Because this disease is viewed as primarily being attributable to unhealthy lifestyle habits, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on encouraging increased exercise, better dietary habits, and weight loss. Recent studies reveal that the presence of several persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can confer greater risk for developing the disease than some of the established lifestyle risk factors. In fact, evidence suggests the hypothesis that obesity might only be a significant risk factor when adipose tissue contains high amounts of POPs. Chlorinated pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls, in particular, have been strongly linked to the development of metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and T2DM. In addition to reviewing the evidence associating POPs to these conditions, this article explores the possible contribution of farmed Atlantic salmon - a significant and common dietary source of POPs - with blood sugar dysregulation conditions.
Intravenous sodium calcium ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) and oral 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) have both been used to reduce the burden of lead in humans. Each of these agents enhances the mobilization of lead from different areas of the body - EDTA from the trabecular bone and DMSA from the soft tissue. A study of Korean battery workers revealed that EDTA appeared to increase the soft tissue burden of lead, resulting in increased levels of aminolevulinic acid and greater subsequent lead mobilization with DMSA. This case report discusses a patient with a higher-than-normal lead burden who exhibited increased tissue lead burden after intravenous EDTA. The elevated tissue burden of lead was still present, albeit lower, after five consecutive days of oral DMSA therapy. If this single case is representative of a typical human response to the use of intravenous (IV) EDTA for lead, then it suggests that all persons undergoing such treatment should be administered oral DMSA for a minimum of one week after EDTA treatment.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are considered "persistent organic pollutants;" fat-soluble compounds that bioaccumulate in individuals and bio-magnify in the food chain. PCBs were the first industrial compounds to experience a worldwide ban on production because of their potent toxicity. These compounds are still present in our food supply (fish, dairy, hamburger, and poultry being the most contaminated) and our bodies. Once in the body, they can cause long-term problems, especially for those exposed in utero. PCB bioaccumulation can lead to reduced infection fighting ability, increased rates of autoimmunity, cognitive and behavioral problems, and hypothyroidism. Some research also links PCBs to increased rates of type 2 diabetes. Testing is currently available for some of the most damaging PCBs. The testing compares individual levels to national reference values and can be interpreted to determine current exposure. Dietary measures can be enacted that will reduce PCB half-lives in humans by increasing excretion.
In this second of a two-part series analyzing the evidence for the use of organisms as medicine, the use of a number of different "bugs" (worms, leeches, snails, ticks, centipedes, and spiders) is detailed. Several live organisms are used as treatments: leeches for plastic surgery and osteoarthritis and the helminths Trichuris suis and Necator americanus for inflammatory bowel disease. Leech saliva is the source of a number of anticoagulants, including the antithrombin agent hirudin and its synthetic analogues, which have been approved for human use. Predatory arthropods, such as certain species of snails, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and ticks provide a trove of potential analgesic peptides in their venom. A synthetic analogue of a snail venom peptide, ziconotide, has been approved for human use and is used as an alternative to opioids in severe pain cases. Arthropods, such as ticks, have venom that contains anticoagulants and centipede venom has a protein that corrects abnormalities in lipid metabolism.
Ok, so you are feeling depressed about the fact that you have type 2 diabetes? Fear not, as it appears Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), that intrepid pharmaceutical giant with its self aggrandized quality control measures, has the answer: 30 milligram Paxil anti-depressant tablets packaged with your 4 milligram Avandia diabetes tablets. Wow, you can hardly wait for 2011 and that new health care bill that will pay for it!!! How about 4 milligram Avandia tablets with your 200 milligram Tagamet tablets? New marketing campaign? New co-packaging of products, with FDA approval? Hardly. Quality control issues, certainly.
