Today In Alt Med

Calcium Linked To Heart Attacks; Calcium Hawkers Go Ballistic

Yesterday a new study published in the journal Heart rocked the world of "natural" medicine by declaring that people who rely on calcium supplements instead of calcium-rich foods may also be upping their chances for a heart attack. The study looked at data on 23,980 European adults who had previously not had any major cardiovascular problems and followed up on that data 11 years later. Ultimately the study's authors concluded that folks who got their calcium from supplements were much more likely to have suffered a heart attack than study participants who got their calcium from foods.

In a follow-up article, printed as an editorial in the same journal, the study's authors urged caution for people who take calcium supplements. And they stressed that pills--no matter how "natural" they may be--are not substitutes for a healthy diet. In fact, they put it this way, "It is now becoming clear that taking this micronutrient in one or two daily [doses] is not natural, in that it does not reproduce the same metabolic effects as calcium in food."

As you might expect, the criticism isn't sitting well with the companies that make calcium supplements. Almost immediately after the study hit the newswires the Council for Responsible Nutrition went ballistic and issued a press release criticizing the study and encouraging supplement users to think for themselves.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition sounds like it belongs in a university somewhere but it's actually just a trade group that represents the interests of companies which make supplements and the companies that manufacture the raw ingredients for such products. In its press release the "council" criticized the study, pointing out that the study wasn't specifically designed to look at heart attacks and stressing that calcium has long been recognized as a mineral vital to strong bones.

The problem with the CRN's position, though, is that this is by no means the first study to link calcium supplements to poorer heart health. Just last year these same authors linked calcium supplements to higher rates of heart problems in post-menopausal women.

Valeant Buys Some Of Swiss Herbal Remedies

Image provided to press by PR Newswire

Valeant Pharmaceuticals announced this morning that it had agreed to buy certain "assets" from supplements maker Swiss Herbal Remedies Limited. "Swiss Herbal's strong brand awareness in Canada will be a great fit with Valeant's current operations," CEO J. Michael Pearson is quoted as saying in the Valeant's official press release. "Swiss Herbal currently holds a leading position in the Canadian consumer channel and will complement our other product offerings, such as COLD-FX, in this important market segment."

Exactly what "assets" were acquired was not revealed but the company puts their value at around C$28 million. The deal should be closed, the company says, by the end of June.

Swiss Herbal Remedies is one of Canada's best-known herbal remedies retailers. It specializes in non-allergenic products that are generally made without gluten, yeast, sugar or dairy ingredients. The company boasts of product line developed by, as the company's website puts it, an expert team of biochemists, chemists, and even a doctor of naturopathic medicine. Last fall the company announced that, in the interest of environmental responsibility, it was discontinuing its shark cartilage product.

Veterans Rise Up Against New Prostate Screening Recommendations

Logo provided to press by MHN

The Men's Health Network and the Veterans Health Council are teaming up to soundly rebuke the new recommendation that men not get PSA exams to check for prostate cancer. In a statement released yesterday the two groups say that if the decision stands it will essentially make the tests unavailable to thousands of American men who need them.

Men's Health Network spokesperson Scott Williams put it this way, ""Early detection saves lives and this recommendation essentially eliminates access for patients and their healthcare providers to the only test available for early detection of prostate cancer."

The recent decision by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force gives PSA tests a "D" rating. And that means that Medicaid, Medicare and other public health programs will no longer be allowed to offer it as a routine screening tool. It also means that some insurance companies will drop coverage for it. When that happens it will set up a situation in which only if a man actually has symptoms of prostate cancer will those programs pay for the tests.

There are a lot of . . . politics . . . being played out here and lots of name-calling going on. But skeptics of the PSTF's decision say that the bottom line here is that it will take early prostate cancer screening off the table for the very men who need it most--African Americans, Vietnam-era veterans and poor men with a family history of the disease.

The government is justifying its decision by claiming, in part, that the tests are finding too many cases of early prostate cancer. Many of those cancers will never become life-threatening but by diagnosing men with the disease you cause them needless worry and clog up the healthcare system with tests and other services the men don't really need.

Readers, I would love to have you weigh in on this. Do you think that defunding PSA tests is just another way for the feds to save an extra buck here and there? Or do you think they're right and those tests often lead to men worrying about something that may never actually threaten their health? Or do you have a take on this I haven't considered? Wherever you stand I hope you'll leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Oreck Ponies Up $698,000 For Refunds On Germ Killing Vacuums

The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, announced this morning that it has begun sending refund checks to Oreck customers. These refunds stem from the agency's settlement with Oreck Corporation over what the agency calls bogus claims made about Oreck's Halo vacuum cleaner and its ProShield air cleaner. As a result of the settlement customers who bought the vacuum cleaner will receive a refund of $25; folks who invested in the air cleaner will receive $24.65.

More than 27,000 checks are going out and if you're eligible for one you can expect to receive yours beginning this week. You'll have 60 days to cash it, says the FTC in its statement about its settlement with Oreck.

Just over a year ago the agency announced that Oreck had agreed to stop making germ-killing claims about the products and pay $750,000 in fines. Oreck had previously advertised the vacuum cleaner and air filter as its new "Flu Fighters" and promised that the units' UVC lights could destroy a variety of germs. The FTC sued the company, saying that the claims were "deceptive" and "allegedly false".

Orek bought the Halo technology from Halo Technologies back in 2008. Just prior to the sale one of Oreck's competitors, Bissell, had challenged certain claims being made at the time by Halo Technologies. Shortly after the sale Dyson got in on the act.

UVC light is widely used to kill pathogens because the light destroys DNA. The Earth's atmosphere blocks most of the natural UVC we get but UVC bulbs have been in use in hospitals, water plants and sewer treatment facilities for decades. Earlier this month a study looking at animal data was released which hinted at UVC's use as a treatment for wounds where serious bacterial infections are possible.

Hantavirus Warnings Issued By Several States

CDC map of Hantavirus

Hantavirus scared a lot of people when it was "discovered" back in the early 90s but then it sort of just faded back into the background and became a disease that most people just assumed belonged "out west" and only affected people living in very rural areas. The truth is that hantavirus never went away and it doesn't just occur in Arizona and New Mexico. Nearly 600 cases have been reported in 34 states since scientists began tracking the disease. And a full 36% of those cases were ultimately fatal to the victims.

That's why a growing number of US states have issued hantavirus warnings and advisories already this year.  Earlier this month California's Department of Public Health issued an advisory after mice in Riverside County tested positive for the infection. A few days later Illinois issued a press release in which it revealed that medical experts in that state had confirmed its 3rd-ever case of hantavirus in a human being. (The victim survived and is now home from the hospital.) Additionally, Wyoming and New Mexico have also issued recent reminders about the importance of hantavirus prevention. Neither state has confirmed any human cases so far this year but Wyoming had a fatal case last year and New Mexico had 3--in addition to 2 other cases in which victims survived.

So how do you protect yourself when it's time to clean out that old barn or storage shed? Experts with the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, advise anyone working in an area where rodents could be nesting to let the area air out for about an hour and then clean up any dead rodents and their droppings by first saturating them with a mixture made by adding 1.5 cups of household bleach to a gallon of water. When cleaning up rodent debris always wear rubber gloves, the agency adds.

To prevent a re-infestation it's also a good idea to seal up any cracks and holes in walls, foundations and screens. You can make your home, garden shed and storage areas even less attractive to mice and rats by eliminating all water sources and storing things like grains, seeds and anything else that's edible in sealed plastic containers. Another tip--and this one comes from the National Park Service's Rodent Exclusion Manual--is to go into storage areas and move things around every now and then.

Hantavirus isn't just a disease that threatens "country folk" or people in the Southwest. Confirmed cases of the disease have been found in Florida, New York and even Maine.

2 Million Boomers Have Hep C And Don't Even Know It

 

Experts with the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, say that there are more than 2 million baby boomers in this country who have hepatitis C--and most don't even know it. But the CDC would like to change that and they're encouraging everyone in that age range to get tested at least once.

The CDC defines a boomer as someone born between 1945 and 1965 and says that folks in this age group account for well over 75% of all adult hepatitis cases in the US. In fact, a boomer is 5 times more likely to be affected than a Gen-Xer or a Gen-Y baby.

So how can so many boomers have hep C without even knowing it? Part of the reason is that the disease can live quietly in the liver for years before it starts to cause symptoms that require medical attention. And many boomers have never been tested because they don't think that they're at risk for something than many of them still consider to be mainly a sexually transmitted disease.

But if every boomer in the country got tested and, when appropriate, treated for hepatitis we could cure around 75% of those infected and save 120,000 lives, say experts. To help American baby boomers better understand hepatitis C (and the importance of getting tested for it) the agency has poured $6.5 million into programs designed to increase testing and treatment. It's also put resources into expanding its Know More Hepatitis website and is working with other agencies to increase awareness of the prevalence of hepatitis C among baby boomers.

Organic Pastures Recalls AGAIN; Quarantine Now Lifted

 

On May 10th the California Department of Food and Agriculture, or CDFA, announced that it was ordering a recall and quarantine of raw milk, butter and cream produced by Organic Pastures Dairy. The Fresno-based dairy was, you'll remember, the target of a similar recall just a few months ago. This time, however, it was a bacterium known as Campylobacter that made people sick.

At that time, the CDFA said that it had logged "at least 10 cases" of campylobacter infections in people who consumed Organic Pastures raw milk products prior to becoming ill. (There were several additional cases of the illness among people who also consumed raw dairy products but those patients did not specifically remember Organic Pastures being the brand.) The apparent Organic Pastures victims ranged in age from 9 months to 38 years of age; more than half were under the age of 18.

As part of that press release CDFA confirmed that it had found Campylobacter in raw cream produced by the dairy. The agency "strongly urged" anyone with any Organic Pastures products on hand to throw them out immediately.

In yesterday's update we learned a little more. In the update about the Organic Pastures recall the CDFA agency said that it ultimately found the germ in 6 samples of cream and 4 samples of butter. It also found the bacteria in manure collected from the cows.

During the quarantine the dairy was barred from producing any raw milk products for sale to the public. And to escape the quarantine it had to meet all current food safety guidelines and sanitation requirements. The dairy did so and was cleared to resumed sales on May 18.

The dairy's owner, Mark McAfee, initially disputed the CDFA's bacteria test. In an AP story he's quoted as saying he believed the tests are "incorrect". However, as you can see in the carefully worded video McAfee issued days later he seems to have dropped that assertion and resorts to begging customers to go on the offensive for him. Raw milk proponents should, he says, "share" their "testimonials" about the health benefits of raw milk.

Extra Strength Instant Hot Rod Is Recalled For Spiking

 

The company behind the "male enhancement" products Firminite, Libidron and--I'm not making this up--Extra Strength Instant Hot Rod have issued a recall of all packages of those products. In its statement about the recall the company, West Coast Nutritionals, admits that FDA tests have found the erectile dysfunction drug tadalafil in samples it analyzed. Tadalafil is sold in this country under the brand name Cialis and all 3 of the products, the company confirms, are spiked with it.

These products were sold worldwide at various retail stores and, of course, through the internet. West Coast Nutritionals did not say how many individual packets are covered by this recall. It did say that it was in the process of notifying its customers and arranging returns. If you have any of these on hand you're urged to take them back to your place of purchase and get your money back.

As of my visit to the products' official websites this morning I found "This site is currently down" notices on all of them. There were no explanations or mentions of the recall on any of the sites.

The worry about these products, of course, is that men who know they should not take drugs like Cialis might turn to "herbal" products like these, believing that they're "natural" alternatives to prescription ED drugs. But since they actually contain those drugs, these products have exactly the same potential for harm. And that potential includes a drug interaction that could result in a sudden loss of blood pressure.

The FDA has logged one complaint that the agency is characterizing only as an "adverse event" but it did not say which product was involved or how serious the reaction was. West Coast Nutritionals claims that it's not received any customer complaints about any of the recalled "remedies".

The FDA is asking any man who has taken Firminite, Libidron or Extra Strength Instant Hot Rod and believes he suffered side effects or a drug interaction to see a doctor immediately. Your doctor will also file (or help you file) a report with the MedWatch program.

As far as I can tell the company has not offered any information about how the admitted spiking occurred or any apology to its customers.  

Hate Cilantro? You're In Good Company.

Cilantro is one of those herbs that people seem to either really like or positively loath. If you fall into the "loathing" category when it comes to this member of the carrot family you're in very good company.

Published at the website for the peer-reviewed journal Flavors, a new study from Canada aims to be the first to look at why so many folks hate cilantro and whether or not that dislike can be tied to any specific ethnic background. What the scientists behind this study did was to look at data on 1639 young men and women who had participated in the Toronto Nutrigenomics and Health Study. The study participants, who were all in their 20s, were asked to rate their taste for cilantro on a 1-9 scale ranging from "dislike extremely" to "like extremely". Anyone rating their like of cilantro as less than 5 was lumped into the "dislike" category.

Overall, the cilantro dislike varies from 3% to 21%, depending on which ethnic group you're looking at. It was highest among "East Asians" at 21% and lowest among "Middle Eastern subjects" at 3%. Caucasians came in with a cilantro dislike of 17% while folks of "African" heritage followed closely behind at 14%. "South Asians" showed a 7% dislike for the herb and "Hispanics" rounded out the study at 4%.

What can we learn from this? I don't know but I suspect that this study should really just be seen as a fun little peek into the gamut our tastes can run. These scientists didn't, for example, actually give any of the study volunteers samples of cilantro before having them complete the survey. Nor did it appear to ask study participants to describe their food upbringing.

Taste preferences are influenced by a wide variety of factors--and some factors we can't even identify yet. Some studies seem to suggest that there could be a genetic aspect but genetics alone do not explain why we like some foods and not others.

Oh, and about cilantro . . . a botanist will call it Coriandrum sativum and tell you that it's a member of the carrot family. Cooks in Europe call it coriander (and you can certainly find it packaged that way here in the US) but most of North America calls it cilantro. Americans, perhaps, most closely associate it with Mexican cuisine. 

Faith "Healing" Claims Another Young Life

In 2009 Zachery Swezey died at the tender age of 17 from a ruptured appendix. This month his parents stood trial for his murder, which prosecutors in Swezey's home state of Washington say they committed by denying Swezey medical care. Swezey's parents, according to court records, decided to anoint him with oil and have fellow church members pray for him instead of taking him to the emergency room.

Yesterday I learned that Zachery's parents, Greg Swezey and JaLea Swezey, had both been acquitted of second-degree murder. As of this morning JaLea Swezey had also been found not guilty of first-degree manslaughter; the jury has yet to reach a verdict for the father's first-degree manslaughter charge. 

Zachery's parents claim they thought he had "the flu" but I think Prosecutor Karl Sloan put it best when he shot back that after 3 days of their son vomiting and running a high fever that they had to have known their son, who reportedly could not even make it to the bathroom by himself, needed medical care.

During the trial jurors were shown an autopsy photo of Zachery's body. In it Zachery's skin is visibly green. Experts testified that the dramatic color change was due to the massive infection in his abdomen.

So if Zachery was really that ill why didn't his parents seek medical care, even if it's true--as the father claims--that Zachery never asked to see a doctor? I do not know. After all a church elder actually testified that while the church believes in "faith in God" there would have been no repercussions for the Swezey's if they had taken Zachery to the emergency room.

Except, of course, for the fact that Zachery might still be alive today.