Supplements lose luster after studies question claims

[jnezmama02]

Thought this was an interesting article....

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11532184/

No hope in a bottle?
Supplements lose luster after studies question claims

By Fran Kritz
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 10:55 a.m. ET Feb. 24, 2006

WASHINGTON - If you’ve ever suspected those cure-all claims for dietary supplements were too good to be true, you’re in some pretty good company.

Two recent studies appearing in the highly-respected New England Journal of Medicine punctured the promises of some of the most popular pills found on drug-store shelves.

Turns out calcium isn't much help for preventing broken bones as we grow older. And glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, top-sellers for the aches and pains of osteoarthritis, hardly make a difference.
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Vitamins C and E fared even poorer as preventives against prostate cancer in a study last week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It found no reduction of risk whatsoever, except perhaps in some smokers.

"People have been seeing supplements as all they needed to do to avoid disease,’" says Dr. Meir Stampfer, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. "These studies provide a wake-up call to say, no, you need to do more than that.’’

Could the $5 billion dietary supplement industry finally be losing its luster?

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Andrew Vickers, Ph.D., a research methodologist in the Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, say the recent spate of studies -- including one last year that showed echinacea didn't fight the common cold after all -- doesn't signal a downward plummet. Instead, it's a more accurate reflection of the more limited benefits many supplements offer.

"Small trials, which many supplements have gone through, often show a great deal of benefit,’’ says Vickers. "It’s only when you greatly increase the size of the population studied that you are able to see a more accurate picture, which is what we’re seeing now.’’

For example, just over 36,000 women, ages 50 to 79, were enrolled in the calcium study, a large number for a clinical trial. Half the participants were given placebos, the others received 1,000 mg of calcium and 400 iu of vitamin D, just slightly less than the National Osteoporosis Foundation's guidelines of 1,200 mg of calcium and 400-800 iu of vitamin D for women over 50.

'If it works for me...'
Clear benefit was seen only for women over 60; hip fractures in that group were reduced by 21 percent. But overall, women in the supplement group did not have fewer fractures than women who took the placebo.

And in the 30,000-strong osteoarthritis study, patients with mild joint pain saw no improvement by using glucosamine and chondroitin, though there was some relief for people with more severe pain.

Even industry members think the studies may lead to a recalibration of an over-hyped industry. "Marketers tended to go overboard with their claims -- so instead of suggesting support for a particular area of health, many implied curative effects,’’ says Shawn Talbott, editor of an industry Web site, SupplementWatch. "When supplements are actually studied for those curative effects ... they do not always fare so well,’’ Talbott says

Rather than push consumers away, experts hope the studies will relegate supplements to a complementary role, amid a host of other healthy efforts.

The National Osteoporosis Foundation posted a notice on its Web site saying the latest findings would not change the group’s calcium and vitamin D recommendations but reminded women that bone health also requires other steps such as weight-bearing exercise.

Dr. Mary Jo DiMilia, an integrative medicine physician at Mount Sinai Medical Center, says none of her patients have asked about foregoing calcium, and she’s not giving up the glucosamine she’s relied on to relieve arthritis pain for the last two years. "If it works for me,’’ asks DiMilia, "why should it matter that the study didn’t find benefit for all patients?"
© 2006 MSNBC Interactive

[AnnieMommy7]

Hope,

I almost posted this same article yesterday...

There are so many supplements on the market for joint pain that contain glucosamine it's outrageous.  I hope the word gets out so folks will stop pouring money down the tubes...  I know I'll not be buying the stuff again.

Annie

[jnezmama02]

Yea, it's pretty bad. I know DH's chiro pushes a lot of supplements. Heck, even his ortho surgeon told him to take glucosomine for his ankle joint problems!  geez...

[moogie]

The title and details of that article at first make it sound as though there was no benefit to supplements but then it said that in specific groups there were benefits.  The article left me confused as to what it was really trying to say.

In my opinion and most medicos, supplements should only be given when dietary intake is inadequate, so its not that supplements are useless its just that they should be treated as other drugs are: only taken if necessary. 

I take 4 different supplements currently, all of which i think are necessary, and i certainly notice a difference if i don't take them.

I do agree that some people are unnecessarily pill popping supplements when really they should be looking after their bodies in other ways.

[AnnieMommy7]

Megs,

Here in the US just about every other commercial on TV or in print has to do w/ relief from osteoarthritis.  Many of these commercials are for some supplement containing glucosamine and chondrotin. It's a HUGE industry and many people will, of course, seek out a simpler"cure" before going to the Dr.  So, millions of people have been spending their money and putting great stock and hope into glucosamine without knowing if it really works.  The study shows that for mild pain it does nothing...

I used to be a firm believer in echinachea and took it for years all the while proclaiming my great luck in rarely getting a cold.  Well, I haven't taken it in aout 3 yrs and in that time while I've been exposed to MANY viruses I've gotten sick twice.  No different than when I was taking the echinachea...  I just don't get sick often. 

In the article I read on CNN.com speaking of the glucosamine study they also spoke to echinachea and found that it has little to no effect on preventing colds.  Also, saw palmetto has been found to have little to no effect on preventing prostate cancer.

While these studies were done in conjunction w/ drug companies (so, of course we have to question the agenda) the supplement business hits people in the pocket harder as insurance doesn't pay for supplements.  Elderly people with arthritis need to be informed so they are not spending money on supplements that don't work and that they can barely afford.

Don't get me wrong.  I DO believe in and use many natural remedies and a few supplements.  Cranberry capsules have helped me greatly in the past with "gotta go right now syndrome."  Also, I will use yogurt for a yeast infection and have far greater results than w/ and OTC medication.  I believe that I will not need antibiotics now for my current cold turned bronchitis because of the use of ginger, cayenne and garlic as well as aromatherpay treatments.

We DO need to be informed consumers of all aspects of our health and wellbeing.  If something doesn't work we need to know that, too, disappointing as it may be.

Annie

[kokonutmama]

Oh Annie, I'm so relieved to read you didn't notice a diff off echinacia.  A million years ago I read one of your posts about taking it and went back and forth over whether I should tell you about the pretty legit sounding study I read about in which "they" determined that echinacia does jack squat physiologically.  Since I didn't want to mess up anything psychosomatic you had going on for you I decided not to mention it, but I'm glad you're not wasting your money anymore.