Articles
Evidence-Based Medicine: Neither Good Evidence nor Good Medicine
by Steve Hickey, PhD and Hilary Roberts, PhD
(OMNS, Dec 7, 2011) Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the practice of treating individual patients based on the outcomes of huge medical trials. It is, currently, the self-proclaimed gold standard for medical decision-making, and yet it is increasingly unpopular with clinicians. Their reservations reflect an intuitive understanding that something is wrong with its methodology. They are right to think this, for EBM breaks the laws of so many disciplines that it should not even be considered scientific. Indeed, from the viewpoint of a rational patient, the whole edifice is crumbling.
Amazing milk thistle may also curb lung cancer
(NaturalNews) Milk thistle's use for liver health for 2000 years was
almost lost under Big Pharma's medical monopoly. Fortunately, it has
experienced a revival as an efficacious natural medicine over the last
few decades. And now, recent milk thistle research indicates it may also
be useful for treating cancer.
Russia develops effective drug to treat hepatitis C
Russian scientists have developed an innovative drug that can cure hepatitis C within a month. They started their research in this area over 20 years ago and at present, they have patented the drug which will be available for sale next year.
The drug known as Profetal is based on human alpha-fetoprotein, says Alexander Petrov, head of the Ural Pharmaceutics Cluster, where the project is underway, in an interview with the Voice of Russia.
What Kind of Medical Study Would Have Grandma Believe that Her Daily Multivitamin is Dangerous?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 12, 2011
What Kind of Medical Study Would Have Grandma Believe that Her Daily Multivitamin is Dangerous?
by Robert G. Smith, PhD
(OMNS, Oct 12, 2011) A newly released study suggests that multivitamin and nutrient supplements can increase the mortality rate in older women [1]. However, there are several concerns about the study's methods and significance.
- The study was observational, in which participants filled out a survey about their eating habits and their use of supplements. It reports only a small increase in overall mortality (1%) from those taking multivitamins. This is a small effect, not much larger than would be expected by chance. Generalizing from such a small effect is not scientific.
- The study actually reported that taking supplements of B-complex, vitamins C, D, E, and calcium and magnesium were associated with a lower risk of mortality. But this was not emphasized in the abstract, leading the non-specialist to think that all supplements were associated with mortality. The report did not determine the amounts of vitamin and nutrient supplements taken, nor whether they were artificial or natural. Further, most of the association with mortality came from the use of iron and copper supplements, which are known to be potentially inflammatory and toxic when taken by older people, because they tend to accumulate in the body [2,3,4]. The risk from taking iron supplements should not be generalized to imply that all vitamin and nutrient supplements are harmful.
Free, Peer-Reviewed Nutritional Medicine Information Online
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 3, 2011
Free, Peer-Reviewed Nutritional Medicine Information Online
No Evidence, Eh?
(OMNS, Oct 3, 2011) Many of our readers
have written to say that when they try to talk to their physician about
using nutritional medicine, the subject is promptly dismissed.
Furthermore, such dismissal is often accompanied with doctor statements
such as, "I have not seen any good research showing that vitamins work
therapeutically."
That your doctor has not seen the research is probably true. However,
the research has been there all along. The problem is that many health
practitioners are often too busy, and sometimes too complacent, to look
for it.
Naringenin inhibits production of hepatitis C virus
Goldwasser J, Cohen PY, Lin W, Kitsberg D, Balaguer P, Polyak SJ, Chung RT, Yarmush ML, Nahmias Y.
Source
Center for Engineering in Medicine, Shriners Burns Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS:
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects 3% of the world population and is the leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Current standard of care is effective in only 50% of the patients, poorly tolerated, and associated with significant side effects and viral resistance. Recently, our group and others demonstrated that the HCV lifecycle is critically dependent on host lipid metabolism and that its production is metabolically modulated.
METHODS:
The JFH1/Huh7.5.1 full lifecycle model of HCV was used to study the antiviral effects of naringenin on viral replication, assembly, and production. Activation of PPAR? was elucidated using GAL4-PPAR? fusion reporters, PPRE reporters, qRT-PCR, and metabolic studies. Metabolic results were confirmed in primary human hepatocytes
