August 28, 2000 Research Update

Lymphoma and H. pylori

Eradicating H. pylori may help send certain lymphomas into remission. We need to be careful with all this info on H. pylori. Some studies show benefits with eradication and yet others show increase risk of other diseases such as reflux disease. Some consider H. pylori a pathogen, and yet others consider it normal flora that is supposed to be there. I think this issue needs to be very, very carefully researched before we make any final judgements on this bacteria. Entrez-PubMed

Thiazolidinediones for type 2 diabetes

This is a nice review of PPAR-gamma ligands and how they work in diabetes. Two things about this article. First, you need to know that conjugated linoleic acid also acts as a PPAR gamma ligand without the side effects and has shown benefit in treating diabetes. Second, look at the withdrawl dates in the US of troglitazone vs the UK. It was almost three years later that the US pulled availability. This once again shows that you can't always rely on the FDA to protect you. It's a personal choice. bmj.com Krentz et al. 321 (7256): 252

vitamin A supplementation of young infants

vitamin A, in nutrient deficient areas, can reduce the risk of death in young children by a whopping 23%!!!! Viewpoint: vitamin A supplementation of young infants

Major Medical Journals Charged With Neglecting Preventive Medicine

Is this any major surprise? The sad thing is that prevention is truly the best way to approach health...not putting out fires as they start.

Am J Prev Med 2000;19:00-00 A report released in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that The Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine preferentially publish research dealing with treatment of specific diseases instead of research emphasizing the importance of preventive measures. The researchers looked at all original investigations, reviews, editorials and special reports published in the two journals during 1998, some 1,160 papers in all. Only 71 of those, 6% of the total, focused on primary prevention of disease. Just 11 dealt with diet, exercise, and other health-promoting behaviors. About 60% of the papers analyzed in the two journals concentrated on epidemiology, basic science, or treatment of specific diseases with new drugs. Many of the rest addressed healthcare policy issues.

Court Rules That FDA Can Regulate Pharmanex's Cholestin

This battle has been waging for awhile. A natural product derived from red chinese yeast rice has been shown to lower cholesterol levels. Keep a close eye on this one--it could have major implications on the supplement market if the FDA and the pharmaceuticals win.

NEW YORK, Jul 25 (Reuters Health) - Pharmanex's cholesterol-fighting formula Cholestin is subject to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation as a drug product, the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday. However, the FDA asserts that Cholestin is a drug because it contains a substance chemically identical to lovastatin, the active ingredient in Merck's Mevacor, which is an approved prescription therapy for lowering cholesterol. As a drug, Cholestin cannot legally be marketed without an approved New Drug Application, the agency maintains. Pharmanex has argued that mevinolin, the ingredient that the agency equates with lovastatin, is actually a significantly different substance. Mevinolin is naturally occurring, while lovastatin is synthetically isolated, purified and crystallized, according to the company.

Mice That Overexpress Human UCP-3 Eat More Yet Weigh Less

Uncoupling protein (UCP) is a protein found in humans that essentially burn fat at high rates. In babies and mammals we call tissues with high levels of UCP brown fat. The levels of UCP in a particular patient will undoubtably be found to be a factor in a patient's overall weight.

Nature 2000;406:415-418 Transgenic mice that overexpress the human uncoupling protein-3 (UCP-3), a close relative to the brown adipose tissue-expressed UCP-1, consume more calories but weigh less than their wild-type littermates. In conclusion, while the findings do not prove that "UCP-3 is involved in the aetiology of obesity," the results do indicate that alteration of UCP-3 expression may offer a new approach to obesity treatment.