RE: [pronut-hiv] BBC: Vitamins 'may up pregnancy risk' (4)

["Katsh, Stuart" <skatsh@lagaycenter.org>]

My someone is a little pissed at the media. I wonder who? :-)

George -  I totally agree with everything you are saying as I am sure
others do. A few weeks ago Time or Newsweek had an article on nutrition
messages and the media and it tore the media apart and reported the
actual facts behind some studies (as you did here). They had quotes from
docs and research people but not from one frigging RD (I need to write
them a polite but terse letter on that subject).

Hope all is well. 

Oh and I would have sent this to solely George but I don't have his
e-mail address.


		Stuart Katsh MS, RD 
		Nutritionist 
		new e-mail address: skatsh@lagaycenter.org 
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-----George M. Carter wrote:

At 04:47 PM 3/31/2006, you wrote:
>Vitamins 'may up pregnancy risk'
>
>High doses of vitamin supplements may raise the risk of pre-eclampsia
in
>pregnant women rather than protecting against it, research suggests.

Maybe. I'm very concerned about the recent spate of studies all pointing
to the terrible evils of supplements. So I want to read the ORIGINAL
study.

When you get past the headlines, one finds some really sleazy crap by
the 
media. But I'm no longer surprised after the suck-up session that led up
to the lies of war in Iraq.

Let's take the example of glucosamine/chondroitin. The headlines? IT 
DOESN"T WORK!!

But what did the study show?
For MILD pain/knee arthritis, not much benefit. A slight advantage for 
Celebrex.

For moderate-to-severe?
Glucosamine alone - modest benefit (they used the HCl form, not the 
probably better sulfate form).
Ditto chondroitin alone.
Improvements were seen in Celebrex...but not that great.
The combination of G/C? TWICE as good as Celebrex.

Guess what? A plethora of the scientists who brought this have had nice,

cozy relations with Pfizer.

Another example is the egregious insanity of that horrifically poorly
done 
meta-analysis of Vitamin E.  Presuming ANYTHING legitimate can be drawn 
from that evaluation, the WORST you can say is that higher dose E may 
increase the risk of mortality among the elderly ill by 0.39%.

Excuse me?

And there's been LOTS of this. I have NO problem with well done studies 
that show no benefit or a problem. But it seems that the sleaze of
pharma 
has reached in to the last bastions of credible research from
universities 
to hospitals and everything is about Spin...and it all goes back to an
FDA 
document prior to DSHEA's development where they note that "dietary 
supplements should not act as a disincentive to drug development." I 
remember being one of the first to read and report on that outrageous 
commentary.

I am NOT convinced by all dietary supplements. There in it to make money

too. But I AM convinced that many can be extremely helpful and often in 
ways that work better than the rape of our healthcare system by Pharma's

pricing schemes.

The lies are almost as thick as the crap that pours unfettered from
Bush's 
mouth on a daily basis.

And the effects are lethal to literally millions worldwide, denied
access 
to clean water, food, multivitamin therapy and generic drugs and
treatment.

When the hell is enough enough?
George M. Carter