LifeCare Chiropractic

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Drug Research

Multivitamin Use May Reduce C-Reactive Protein Levels – (02-03-03)

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Multivitamin Use May Reduce C-Reactive Protein Levels

Do we really need a trial to find a prescription drug to lower CRP levels?????

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Jan 21 – Multivitamin use is associated with a significant reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, which could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, according to findings presented Tuesday at a nutrition meeting in San Antonio.The findings are based on a study of 88 subjects who were randomized to receive a multivitamin or placebo once daily for 6 months. CRP and vitamin levels were measured at baseline and at the end of the trial.”The study was originally designed to assess the effects of multivitamin use on LDL and homocysteine levels,” study author Dr. Timothy S. Church, from The Cooper Institute in Dallas, told Reuters Health. “After some reports suggested that vitamin E may decrease CRP levels, I decided to reanalyze the blood samples from our study to determine the effect of multivitamin use on CRP levels,” he added.To eliminate the potential confounding effects of perimenopause, the researchers limited their analysis to blood samples taken from men or postmenopausal women.Dr. Church presented his team’s findings at Nutrition Week 2003, an annual meeting sponsored by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.”In the multivitamin group, we observed a fairly large decrease in CRP levels,” Dr. Church noted. After adjustment, the mean CRP decline was -0.58 mg/L (p = 0.02). In contrast, a slight increase in CRP levels (+0.18 mg/L) occurred in the placebo group.The magnitude of the reduction is probably too great to be accounted for by the vitamin E present in the formulation, Dr. Church said. “Based on recent reports, I think the effect was probably due to the vitamin B6 and C present,” he added.Dr. Church said that his team is currently studying the effects of multivitamin use on vascular reactivity.

 

Physical Fitness and CRP Level in Children and Young Adults – (02-03-03)

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Physical Fitness and CRP Level in Children and Young Adults

Yet another way to lower CRP levels, and yet multi-million dollar trials are underway to determine if statin drugs (cholesterol lowering) can also lower CRP. You are in the middle of witnessing the blatant disregard for natural methods that lower CRP in favor of pharmaceutical drugs from which a huge profit can be made. In the next few years when the results of the statin drugs/CRP trial is over, the fanfare associated with this discovery (most evidence points to the lowering of CRP levels w/ statins) will be overwhelming.

Pediatrics — Abstracts: Isasi et al. 111 (2): 332

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Antidepressant drug trials exclude most “real” patients – (03-07-02)

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Antidepressant drug trials exclude most “real” patients

This is an interesting article that dissects clinical trials for antidepressants. The authors find that most clinical trials do not match real life patients, and that, based on the patients in clinical trials, only about 15% of patients currently on antidepressants fit classification from the studies. I see many patients on antidepressants and many have jumped from drug to drug with only moderate results and many side effects. Too often these patients have not tried safer, more effective methods such as exercise and improving their diet.

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Integrative Medicine and Systemic Outcomes Research – (02-04-02)

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Integrative Medicine and Systemic Outcomes Research

This is a very thought provoking article that highlights some concerns that I have with the whole concept of integration or complementation with mainstream and alternative care. I personally believe that, while the paths intersect at various points, the basic belief of alternative vs Western medicine clashes. Alternative views the patient as a whole, looking at how organ systems interact and believe that disease comes from dysregulation from within. Western medicine views the patients’ body as merely a battleground on which chemicals and procedures battle against an invader in the patient’s body.

Integrative Medicine and Systemic Outcomes Research: Issues in the Emergence of a New Model for Primary Health Care.

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Pfizer pleads guilty, but drug sales continue to soar – (6-10-04)

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Pfizer pleads guilty, but drug sales continue to soar

Never forget that the pharmaceuticals are big business, and just like GM or Honeywell, they are out there to turn a profit for the shareholders. The fact that the illegal pushing of off label use of a drug that earns a guilty verdict of $240 million is effective at getting doctors to use Neurontin for conditions it DOESN’T EVEN HELP is just wrong.

bmj.com Lenzer 328 (7450): 1217

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in childhood depression – (06-01-04)

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in childhood depression: systematic review of published versus unpublished data

This issue has really blown up lately. With the increasing use of psychoactive medications to our children (which I think is absolutely unacceptable except in the most severe cases) the safety of this class of medications is not known. It turns out that many of these drugs had studies done that showed a negative risk-benefit ratio with some studies showing an increase in suicide rates in medicated kids. But these studies were conveniently never published which led to a favorable outcome when one looked ONLY at the published studies. While this type of shenanigans is fine for GM or Honeywell or some other big company, this is our future we are messing with.

For those of you reading this with small children at home–could you possibly imagine giving your child a powerful drug that affects the mind when we do not know what the long term damage may be? Or worse yet, the damage is known but hidden? Where is this glorious FDA that we want to put in charge of our vitamins?

(editorial on this topic The Journal : Back Issues Back Issues).

US junior doctors found to be ignorant of drug companies’ tactics.

Okay. Most educated people on the street know or have some idea that the pharmaceutical companies use money and gifts to influence the prescribing behavior of doctors, and that these methods are very effective. However, residents were unaware of this behavior? Huh? No wonder it’s effective.

bmj.com Spurgeon 328 (7447): 1032 –

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CRP, Homocysteine Related to Frequent Fruit and Vegetable Intake – (04-08-04)

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CRP, Homocysteine Related to Frequent Fruit and Vegetable Intake

All this fuss trying to find a drug to lower CRP levels. It’s almost laughable. And you know when they find that some drug (most likely front runner is the statins) lowers CRP it’ll be all over the news with recommendations to have CRP levels checked and drugs used to manage levels.

Nutrition.org — Abstracts: Gao et al. 134 (4): 913 –

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Conceptual Foundations of the UCSD Statin Study – (01-29-04)

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Conceptual Foundations of the UCSD Statin Study

Okay, well, that’s wonderful. The #1 prescribed drug in the US and we need “a strong need for randomized controlled trial data to more clearly establish the impact of hydrophilic and lipophilic statins on cognition, aggression, and serotonin, as well as on other measures relevant to risks and quality-of-life impact in noncardiac domains.” Does no one think this information should already be known????

Holy cow. Those on these meds should run to their medicine cabinet and look on the side of the label. Does it read “we are clueless as to what this drug may do to your brain, but there are suggestions that negative effects occur, but don’t let that worry you–go ahead and take as recommended.” Remember stuff like this when medicine requires randomized, double blind placebo controlled studies of natural approaches.

Arch Intern Med — Abstracts: Golomb et al. 164 (2): 153 –

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