Power Play
On the surface, what many health and government officials say they want sounds good, doesn’t it? Until those wolf ears start poking out from under the sheep costume…
Take the Institute of Medicine. Recently, they convened a panel that called for tougher quality control of nutritional supplements. Well, quality sounds good, right? Surely, no one would say they’d prefer a substandard supplement.
Then, they called for more research, which also sounds good. Dr. Wright and many of his colleagues have been conducting pioneering research for years — and would surely love the company and assistance of more colleagues, and more funding, to do so.
So far, we’re two for two.
Still, something smells funny here. Maybe it’s the comparison they keep making to the pharmaceutical industry, implying that the safety record of pharmaceuticals is somehow more pristine than that of the supplement industry.
Perhaps they were so busy they missed the hundreds of news reports on Vioxx. But aside from that instance, prescription drugs account for about 100,000 deaths per year — and those are just the ones we can track. Meanwhile, when Senator Dick Durbin was promoting his Dietary Supplement Safety Act, he exclaimed that “scientific reports have linked ephedra and similar dietary supplements to 117 deaths and more than 17,000 health problems.” Now, I’m not a math genius — but I’m thinking this comparison is a strong case in favor of nutritional supplements, not against them. Especially since the cases of death and complications that occur with natural supplements are most often associated with incorrect use, or with the patient not letting their health care provider know that they’re taking the supplement.
Don’t get me wrong: natural remedies can be powerful — that’s part of the reason they work so well. But there are some steps you need to take to keep those powerful remedies as safe as possible. Recently, you might remember that we’ve urged you to always ‘fess up to your physician about any supplements or alternative treatments you are using. Full disclosure will keep you safer than hiding information from your health care provider. And don’t self-prescribe. While it does allow you more opportunity for health care freedom, natural medicine is not meant to be a do-it-yourself option, so it’s important to find a doctor who is open to and skilled in natural therapies who can help you determine what and how much to take.
All that being said, I think we need to remain suspicious of these attempts at supplement regulation in the name of our safety. I believe the when the wolf sheds the sheep’s clothing, we’ll see this for what it really is — yet another power play from a frightened industry. With your health care freedom in the crosshairs.
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Can’t stomach it
Q: I’m having a terrible time with morning sickness. This is my first pregnancy, and I just didn’t expect to feel sick for so long. Maybe a couple weeks, but I’m almost into my second trimester and I still feel awful for a few hours every day. Is that normal and can you give me any tips for getting through this that will be safe for my baby?
JVW: Acupuncture has proven to be very good at relieving the nausea of morning sickness, and it is generally considered very safe, too. Even the National Institute of Health, not generally known for favoring alternatives, approved this therapy for nausea related to pregnancy in 1997. If you can’t stand the thought of needles, you might want to consider acupressure instead. It’s a similar practice that that can be just as effective because it stimulates the same body points, just without the needles.
From a nutritional perspective, a study that dates back to the 1950s showed that small doses of vitamin K and vitamin C relieved nausea for 91 percent of its participants. I recommend 5 mg of vitamin K and 25 mg of vitamin C to my pregnant patients. You might have to work a little to find such small doses — a compounding pharmacist may be able to help. Another alternative is vitamin B6. This vitamin has been found to lessen the severity of the symptoms of morning sickness at an intake of 10-25 mg a day.
Also, several studies as recent as last year conclude that ginger is a highly effective alternative for reducing the severity of nausea and vomiting that characterize morning sickness. The standard dose in the studies was 1,000 mg per day spread out over three or four doses.
As always, it’s important to work with your doctor when you begin with new supplements — and that goes “double” when you are pregnant.
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What is… hyperemesis gravidarum?
When “morning sickness” is more severe than normal, it earns the diagnosis of hyperemesis gravidarum. While most women will only spend the first third of their pregnancy dealing with the nausea and vomiting associated with the hormonal changes of early pregnancy, 10-20 percent could suffer right through to delivery. Not a lot is known about the cause of the more serious version of morning sickness, but it can be debilitating. Some women find they are unable to continue working or caring for their families through their pregnancy because of the condition, and in the worst cases, the health of the baby and mother are compromised due to the lack of proper nutrition and weight loss.
The HER Foundation (Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation) has an excellent website full of information and support for expectant mother, their families and friends to learn more about this condition. Check them out at www.hyperemesis.org
Yours in good health,
Amanda Ross
Managing Editor
Nutrition & Healing
Sources:
“Complementary and Alternative Therapies and Conventional Medical Therapies Should Be Held to Same Standards; Revised Regulation of Dietary Supplements Is Needed to Ensure Product Quality and Safety,” Institute of Medicine, Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (press release), 1/12/05
Merkle RL. “The use of menadione bisulfite and ascorbic acid in the treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy; a preliminary report,” Am J Obstet Gynecol 1952; 64(2): 416-418
Smith C, Crowther C, et al. “A randomized controlled trial of ginger to treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy,” Obstet Gynecol 2004; 103: 639-645
