Three daycare workers in Chicago were arrested and charged with child endangerment after it was learned they fed their charges gummies containing the sleep-inducing supplement melatonin. What's wrong with that? Plenty.
supplements
We've been discussing the uselessness of healthy people taking vitamin/mineral supplements for lo, these many years. But if you don't believe us, just see what some doctors from Harvard are advising their colleagues about who really needs vitamins, and when.
Heartburn does not involve the heart or a burn, although the discomfort may be described as burning. What underlies this common complaint?
For the general population and its $6-to-8 billion supplement habit, we're learning that Vitamin D and Calcium supplements do not prevent hip fractures.
Celiac disease (CD), an autoimmune disorder that is marked by damage to the lining of the small intestine, can only be treated by following a gluten free (GF) diet. Removing gluten works because gluten is the protein that the body reacts to in order to start the inflammatory response that damages the small intestine.
But, that is harder than it sounds.
Because maintaining a GF diet is challenging, people who have celiac disease long for therapies that may be able to help them keep gluten out of their systems. These would work, in theory, by degrading any gluten that happened to enter into their diet, either knowingly or accidentally.
Turmeric, and its constituent curcumin are widely touted to be one of the wonders of traditional Chinese medicine, treating or curing everything from ankle sprains to cancer. But a recent careful review of the scientific data undercuts all these claims, labeling these compounds as IMPs — invalid metabolic panaceas. Enjoy turmeric in your curry, but don't expect it to save you life!
A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that there was no significant reduction of the incidence of all-type cancer in older women receiving Vitamin D and calcium supplements.
Americans' use of many (but not all) dietary supplements declined between 1999 and 2012, is welcomed. But the increased use of some -- particularly vitamin D -- can have deleterious health effects. Hopefully, consumers will pay more attention to the science about supplements, and less to hyperbolic media reports about the latest "miracle" supplement.
Brain hacking is a relatively new term referring to cognitive enhancement coined by a generation of overachieving, aggressive millennials determined to stay ahead of the curve by playing chemist and guinea pig.
The health claims made by dietary supplement purveyors do not ring true, according to a "Frontline" exposé recently aired by PBS. Not only are many mislabeled as to content, some are actually dangerous and potentially lethal. Worse yet, the FDA can't get them off store shelves until someone is hurt or killed.
Vitamin D has acquired the reputation of a sort of miracle nutrient, with various studies suggesting it can prevent cancer, strengthen muscle and bones and prevent falls and fractures. But recent studies don't support such ideas thus, no new miracles in sight!
In another case of science versus politics, it's Dr. David Seres squaring off with Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch on the topic of supplements. Who should we believe, an ethical physician focused on improving public health or a career politician whose state has become a hotbed for sleazy supplement companies hawking dangerous products?