Dear Threaders,
Following this introduction is an article from Good Housekeeping's website. This is an example of a "recent story in the mass media" alluded to by Bernie Landes in PRLN's recent Press Release.
Of particular irony: it is my understanding that hypericin is NOT the "active ingredient," of St. John's Wort, i.e., that which inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and dopamine.
But more generally: How is the natural foods/dietary supplement industry to defend itself - or at least, its reputable members - against such criticisms? Ideally, through its association: the National Nutritional Foods Association. Ideally, that association will rely upon solid scientific evidence - biofunctional testing.
Now: what Company is uniquely positioned to provide that service, that scientific evidence? Paracelsian, and its trademarked quality assurance model, BioFIT.
Jonathan
A Hard Look at Herbal Remedies
Can you trust that the products on the shelves of your local drugstore or supermarket won't harm you? Do you know for sure that the claims made in ads and on labels are true?
Not always, according to a panel convened by Good Housekeeping for its first Consumer Safety Symposium on Dietary Supplements and Herbal Remedies.
"Consumers are at risk in a rapidly expanding and wholly unregulated market in herbal dietary supplements," said Good Housekeeping Editor in Chief Ellen Levine. "It is precisely because of these very real, yet unperceived dangers, that we [convened] a panel of notable experts, in both traditional and alternative medicine."
Herbal supplements are flooding the market, even surfacing in such products as lipsticks and tortilla chips (with St. John's Wort). Sixty million Americans spent $3.2 billion on herbal remedies last year, and sales of St. John's Wort alone increased by 20,000 percent.
The panel, moderated by ABC PrimeTime Live correspondent Sylvia Chase, included David Kessler, M.D., dean of Yale School of Medicine and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; Norman Farnsworth, Ph.D., research professor of pharmacognosy, University of Illinois, who served on the Presidential Commission on Dietary Supplement Labels; Jeffrey Morrison, president, American Herbal Products Association; Stephen Barrett, M.D., president of Quackwatch, a consumer advocacy group that combats health fraud; and Beth Kaplan, executive vice president, Rite-Aid Corporation.
To illustrate how variable the ingredients in herbal remedies can be, Good Housekeeping Health Editor Deborah Pike presented results from a Good Housekeeping Institute study that tested relative levels of what are believed to be the active ingredients in St. John's Wort. The results showed a 17-fold variation in levels of hypericin, one of the suspected active ingredients, when comparing manufacturers' recommended highest daily dosage. "This study uncovered an alarming lack of conformity that puts us all at risk when we take herbal remedies," said Levine.
Levine presented results of an exclusive Good Housekeeping/HomeArts poll that showed that of 400 respondents, an alarming 60 percent don't tell their doctors that they take herbal supplements. Ninety-two percent of respondents believe that herbal supplements are sometimes a danger. Even so, 61 percent believe that they are fairly effective.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents did not know whether herbal supplements are approved by the FDA, and they have reason to be confused. Regulation of herbal supplements seems to have fallen through the cracks. In a letter to Good Housekeeping, Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), authors of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, assure consumers that dietary supplements are in fact regulated under DSHEA, but the FDA has failed to use its power to enforce the law.
Former FDA Commissioner Kessler said the FDA doesn't have the means - or the staffing - to enforce the law, since it must prove that a product is unsafe before taking it off the market. "DSHEA opened the floodgates," he said. "It's as if the agency has to chase horses once they're out of the barn. To go after every product individually in court would take years. It's hard to do enforcement case by case, product by product." Instead, Kessler contended that the responsibility for proving safety and efficacy lies with manufacturers, pharmacists, and distributors, while the FDA should serve solely as an overseer. Right now, he said, "effectiveness is measured the way that something moves off the shelves."
Herbal dietary supplements are a multi-billion-dollar business, and more than 50 percent of sales are in drug stores. While Rite-Aid's Kaplan said this is because most consumers want to speak with their pharmacists about the products before making a purchase, Kessler said, "I wonder if many pharmacists have really given up their roles as health professionals," by selling products that aren't scientifically proven to work. "In the end," Kessler said, "what separates medical messiahs from mainstream medicine is what this debate comes down to. Some dietary supplements will be able to help people, but without requiring scientific evidence, we'll never know." - Dana Natkevicius, 3/4/98
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For more on herbal supplements, see "If It's on the Shelf, It's Safe... Right?" in the April 1998 issue of Good Housekeeping.
HomeArts/Good Housekeeping Herbal Supplements Survey
The Herbal Weight-Loss Scam
Good Housekeeping
About the Good Housekeeping Institute
Body & Soul
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