In a word, no, no, no, no, no Supplements can't be fairly regulated because the ENORMOUS bias of money distorts the whole subject. I can personally testify to my own research on treatments for MS - and how $$$$$$$$ was poured into trials that seemed determined to show some positive effect for expensive interferon type Drugs - while simple UNPROFITABLE treatments such as Swank's diet is ignored or ridiculed and linoleic acid effects utterly ignored.
This sort of thing happens time and time again - as promising treatments for diseases are quietly shelved because drug companies know that they are unpatentable or unprofitable. Examples: High blood pressure? You can treat it with a simple $300 gadget called Resperate instead of drugs. Good luck finding out about it - my doctor never heard of it - despite solid clinical trials. I can show you dramatic results of simple seaweed extracts on cancer done in Japanese studies years ago - which you'll likely never hear about because the stuff will never make any money. I understand that Graviola was shelved for the same reason. Regulation is merely a pretext to get rid of drug company competition. Put a damn label on the side of the bottle and leave everyone else alone. -----Original Message----- From: Jed Rothwell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 5:27 PM To: vortex-L@eskimo.com Subject: Herbal medicine [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >I'm sure you've heard Parksie crow about the scientific studies showing >that herbal and energy medicine are inefective. IMHO, that just goes to >show you that you can prove anything that you want to. Especially if >the scientific establishment is paying you to do it. While I hate to agree with Park about anything, recent reports that echinacea is ineffective seem to be based on careful research. I think he also has a valid point that unregulated herbal remedies are a threat to public health. This is because everyone knows that some herbs are powerful drugs. Even Park would readily agree that poison ivy causes rashes, marijuana intoxicates, and the bark of the willow tree yields one of the most powerful and effective drugs ever discovered: asprin, used to treat fever, blood clotting and to prevent heart attacks. Unregulated herbal fen-phen caused widespread, serious damage to people's hearts, including 30 fatalities. As temalloy points out, conventional drugs also sometimes cause deleterious and unexpected side effects. That is why they must be carefully tested before use, and monitored continuously. I do not see why that same principle does not apply to herbal medicines. If they are effective (as some are, no doubt), they should be regulated. Many important drugs were originally discovered in herbs, trees and animals, and there are probably thousands more waiting to be discovered. This is yet another reason why we must preserve biodiversity and wilderness areas. Many drugs, including asprin, were originally discovered in nature but later synthesized. This gives better control over dosage and contents, and in some cases it helps preserves rare species. The endangered Pacific Yew was the original source of the cancer drug taxol. It took many trees to supply taxol, but fortunately the drug has now been synthesized. - Jed
