The importance of proper dosing of probiotics
It’s not merely a matter of “the more the merrier” for therapeutic probiotic bacteria. Preliminary evidence reported here and here...
The digoxin-dan shen interaction
Here is an example of a Chinese herbal medicine (dan shen) interacting with a lab test to cause an inaccurate...
Simplifying nutritional labels
The international trend toward using a simpler “traffic light” nutrient labeling system was discussed here earlier. It tells consumers at...
Effects of policosanol in patients with ischemic stroke
This blog has chronicled the lipid-lowering effects of policosanol, which lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 20% to 30%. Its...
GutFlora.org
So many posts on probiotics have been written here that I made it a separate subcategory of entries. Another site...
Behavioral therapy to reduce weight gain during antipsychotic drug treatment
A side effect of treatment with antipsychotic drugs is increased weight, which leads many patients to stop taking their medicine....
New York City moving to outlaw trans fats
The movement to ban trans fats in restaurants and fast food outlets picked up more support earlier this week. The...
U.K. concludes kava is not safe
In 2002, the FDA advised consumers of the potential risk of severe liver injury associated with the use of kava-containing...
Supplements industry will police false claims
A project to better scrutinize and challenge claims made by manufacturers of supplements has been started by the Council for...
Black cohosh: The new bad boy of supplements
Every time I turn around, another agency is warning its constituents to beware of black cohosh. Japan’s Ministry of Health,...
Issues in lowering triglycerides with omega-3 fatty acids
Medscape just published an article on the benefits of lowering triglycerides, and the use of omega-3 fatty acids. Read it...
Horse chestnuts to treat chronic venous insufficiency
When your leg veins can’t pump enough blood back to your heart, you have chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). Today, standardized...
Fucoxanthin as a potential anti-obesity agent?
Rat research on fucoxanthin presented during the 2006 American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco is starting to make the...
The effect of baby massage on mom’s mood
Feeling tired, overwhelmed, stress out? Maybe more physical contact with the baby is the answer. A study of the effects...
Comparing yoga to statins for cholesterol lowering
Yoga practice is associated with positive effects on cholesterol levels in the blood. For example, 6% to 25% decrease in...
Benefits of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in stroke patients
A single session of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the unaffected part of the brain can improve motor function...
Herbal interactions with immunosuppressive drugs
Dr. James Beaulieu, a clinical pharmacist specialist at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, has published an excellent review of this...
Self-acupuncture to control hot flushes in patients with breast and prostate cancer
Vasomotor symptoms can be extreme in patients with breast cancer or prostate cancer who are undergoing anticancer therapy. At the...
The long-term value of self-acupuncture for chronic musculoskeletal pain
Acupuncture is expensive, but self-acupuncture might offer an effective treatment alternative. A retrospective audit of patients in the U.K. with...
The continued importance of diet in managing cholesterol
There is a general perception that it is not worth the effort to make changes in diet in order to...