Don't Mix Herbs with Meds

While skeptics are busy getting retarded to prove herbal supplements have no effect, doctors and researchers are warning patients not to mix herbal supplements with their regular medications, especially heart meds. Apparently, such seemingly innocuous herbs as garlic, St. John's Wort, and ginger can have devastating effects on patients who mix them with their regular statins, blood thinners, and blood pressure medications.

Doctors note even grapefruit juice can be harmful. This is true in the case of many medications, though the truncated literature pharmacists provide with said medications do not always indicate this. I was asked to abstain from my daily multi-vitamin for one week prior to my surgery, as well as two weeks afterward and would not have known this had the nurse not informed me -- it was not written anywhere in the literature I received! This paper discusses many of the dangerous combinations and their possible interactions.

Authorities strongly suggest discussing all of your dietary habits with your doctor, including any and all supplements you take, regularly or otherwise.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Skeptics Publicly OD on Homeopathic Drugs

Homeopathy skeptics staged a mass "protest" against store-sold homeopathic medicines by intentionally overdosing on them at branches of Boots, the UK's leading pharmacy, health, and beauty retailer (according to its website). The MSS, Merseyside Skeptics Society, which organized this protest, says the point is to prove to the public that store-bought homeopathic remedies do not work. "We believe that they shouldn't be selling sugar pills to people who are sick," a spokesperson for MSS - who said similar protests were scheduled in the US, Spain, Australia, and Canada - told the press.

A spokesperson for Boots said the store follows guidelines put in place by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and notes that homeopathic medicine is recognized by the NHS and many individuals. Many people use homeopathic products as complementary to their prescribed medications, not instead of them. "We would support the call for scientific research and evidence gathering on the efficacy of homeopathic medicines," the Boots spokesperson said.

While no one thought the protesters would suffer any adverse effects from intentionally overdosing on the supplements, the Society of Homeopaths' executive, Paula Ross, said the protests were "ill-advised."

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

High-Fat Diet Cures Epilepsy in Children

The Ketogenic Diet, a diet high in fats and low in carbohydrates, was first described in the 1920s at the Mayo Clinic. It is used to treat the 25% or so of children who do not respond to medications meant to control their epilepsy. The Ketogenic Diet literally consists of such meals as a stick of butter, followed by several pieces of bacon, and maybe a piece of fruit, however doctors who have had patients on the Ketogenic Diet say few develop medical issues such as high cholesterol.

The diet mimics starvation and forces the brain to replace glucose as an energy source with ketone bodies produced by the liver. This results in a condition known as "ketosis," and for whatever reason, it completely cures about ¹/₃ of the children who are placed on the Ketogenic Diet. A full 50% of those who are placed on the diet show some signs of improvement.

The diet was widely prescribed shortly after its discovery, but abandoned a decade or so later when effective anticonvulsant drugs became available. It wasn't until the 1990s that interest in the Ketogenic Diet was renewed, thanks to a movie producer known as Jim Abrahams - the guy who brought us such slapstick comedy classics as Airplane! and Ruthless People. Abrahams' epileptic son was one of the unfortunate ¹/₄ of patients who did not respond to anticonvulsants.

The diet is also said to help some adult patients and is being prescribed to sufferers of other neurological disorders to see if it is beneficial in those cases. No conclusions can be drawn so far, due to insufficient data, but trials continue.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010