Inositol and Herbal Supplements Might Provide Some Relief with the Escalation in Terrorist Acts and a New Herb Kava to Placebo
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Vol. 12 No. 11 TM © Jack Challem November 2001 Vol 12 No 11 The independent newsletter that reports vitamin, mineral, and food therapies Stressed? Panicky? Inositol and Herbal Supplements Might Provide Some Relief With the escalation in terrorist acts and a new herb kava to placebo. Forty patients were pretreated war in Asia, there are plenty of reasons to feel anx- with benzodiazepines (a class of sedative drugs), then ious. However, excessive anxiety and panic attacks were shifted to kava extract, starting at 50 mg and may result from nutritional and biochemical stresses. increasing to 300 mg daily. During the first two weeks Several new studies report the value of the B-vitamin of kava treatment, the patients were withdrawn from inositol and the herbs kava and valerian in treating the benzodiazepines. After this time, the patients anxiety and panic disorders. were given either kava or placebo for three weeks. There are two main clinical forms of anxiety. The patients’ symptoms were tracked with One, generalized anxiety disorder refers to persistent several standard clinical tests, which found that kava worries, characterized by difficulty sleeping, feeling was superior to placebo. The study also determined “wired,” and edginess. Two, panic disorder specifi- that kava reduced symptoms after patients ceased cally describes feelings of terror that strike suddenly, taking benzodiazepines. repeatedly, and without warning. Its symptoms Finally, a study by the Psychopharmacology include chest pain, shortness of breath, or dizziness. Research Group in London, England, found that In a study published in the Journal of Clinical supplements of either kava or valerian reduced stress Psychopharmacology, Jonathan Benjamin, MD, of the and insomnia in patients. In the first phase of the Barzilai Medical Center, Israel, described the “first study, 24 patients suffering from stress-induced head-to-head comparison of inositol with an estab- insomnia (on average for more than 15 years) were lished drug.” Earlier studies found inositol far given 120 mg daily of kava daily for six weeks. After superior to placebo in the treatment of panic disorder, two weeks without treatment, 19 of the patients were depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. given 600 mg of valerian for another six weeks. Benjamin and his colleagues treated 21 men and The patients’ stresses were measured in three women, ranging in age from 18-65 years, with either areas: social, personal, and life events. Their insomnia 12-18 grams of inositol or fluvoxamine (an antide- was measured by how long it took them to fall asleep, pressant drug) daily for one month. The treatments the hours they slept, and their waking mood. were then switched for another month. Both kava and valerian resulted in significant Inositol significantly reduced the number of decreases in stress and improvements in insomnia, weekly panic attacks by four, compared with a without a significant difference between the two reduction of only two and one-half with fluvoxamine. herbs. Most patients reported no side effects, but a In addition, people taking fluvoxamine experienced small number of patients had very vivid dreams after greater side effects, chiefly nausea and tiredness. taking valerian and dizziness after taking kava. The researchers noted that only 70 percent of References: Palatnik A, Prolov K, Fux M, et al. patients respond to current pharmaceutical treat- Double-blind, controlled crossover trial of inositol ments to panic disorder, and between 25-75 percent versus fluvoxamine for the treatment of panic disor- discontinue treatments because of side effects. der. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 2001;21:335- “Because inositol is a natural compound with few 339. Malsch U, Kieser M. Efficacy of kava-kava in the known side effects, it is attractive to patients who are treatment of non-psychotic anxiety, following pre- ambivalent about taking psychiatric medication,” treatment with benzodiazepines. Psychopharmacology, they wrote. 2001;157:277-283. Wheatley D, Kava and valerian in In a separate study, German researchers con- the treatment of stress-induced insomnia. ducted a five-week study comparing an extract of the Phytotherapy Research, 2001;15:549-551. 1 Vol. 12 No. 11 Vitamin E, Antioxidant Supplements cans have lost part of their eyesight from the disease. Several recent studies suggest that lutein can protect Ease Rheumatoid Arthritic Symptoms against AMD, but lutein supplements were not Vitamin E’s reputation as an anti-inflammatory available when this study began. nutrient is growing with the publication of a second A large team of researchers from 11 medical study showing that it benefits patients with rheuma- centers, were involved in the Age-Related Eye toid arthritis. The first study suggesting the vitamin’s Disease study, which was directed by Aaron Kassoff, anti-inflammatory properties was published by a MD, of Albany, New York. More than 3,600 subjects team of German and British researchers in 1997. ages 55-80 years old took supplements or placebos for In the latest study, Madiha H. Helmy, PhD, and an average of six years. The supplements included a colleagues at Alexandra University, Egypt, placed 30 multi-antioxidant with 500 mg of vitamin C, 400 IU men and women with rheumatoid arthritis on one of vitamin E, and 15 mg beta-carotene daily; 80 mg of three regimens: (1) standard pharmaceutical treat- zinc and 2 mg of copper; or a combination of the ment with methotrexate, sulphasalazine, and antioxidants, zinc, and copper. indometacin; (2) standard treatment plus a low dose Zinc reduced the risk of AMD by 25 percent and antioxidant supplement; and (3) standard treatment antioxidants reduced it by 20 percent, compared with plus 400 IU of vitamin E three times daily. All of the placebo. A combination of antioxidants and zinc treatments continued for two full months. reduced AMD risk by 28 percent. Although rheumatoid arthritis is generally The most significant benefit occurred in people considered either a disease of connective tissue or an with early signs of AMD. The combination of antioxi- autoimmune disease, it is well established that free dants and zinc reduced the risk of their disease radicals stimulate inflammatory reactions in joints. progressing to a more serious form by 27 percent. That was the rationale for testing the antioxidant A similar study found that the supplements did supplement and vitamin E. not reduce the risk of cataracts. However, earlier Patients in both the antioxidant and vitamin E research suggests that a longer period of supplemen- groups had significant reductions in arthritic symp- tation might be needed to reduce the risk of cataracts. toms, compared with those taking only the drug Reference: The Age-Related Eye Disease Study treatment. Patients in both vitamin groups responded Research Group. A randomized, placebo-controlled, to treatment faster – during the first month – whereas clinical trial of high-dose supplementation with the drug-treated patients did not show any improve- vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and zinc for age- ments until the end of the second month. related macular degeneration and vision loss. Ar- Patients taking the antioxidant supplement had chives of Ophthalmology, 2001;119:1417-1436. reductions of 81 percent in the Ritchie’s articular Soft Drinks, Celiac Disease Turn Out to index (a way to assess the severity of the disease), 85 percent less morning stiffness, and a 78 percent lower Be Significant Factors in Osteoporosis sedimentation rate (a measure of generalized inflam- Two new studies offer interesting twists on the mation). Vitamin E resulted in similar decreases, 60 development of osteoporosis. In one, researchers percent in Ritchie’s score, 82 percent in morning reported that soft drinks sabotaged calcium con- stiffness, and 75 percent in sedimentation rate. sumption among teenage girls. In the other study, a In contrast, patients taking only the pharmaceu- high percentage of middle-age and elderly women tical treatment had reductions of only 25-28 percent with osteoporosis had undiagnosed celiac disease, in these three indicators of disease severity. which interfered with their absorption of vitamin D. Reference: Helmy M, Shohayeb M, Helmy MH, Susan J. Whiting, PhD, of the University of et al. Antioxidants in adjuvant therapy in rheumatoid Saskatchewan, Canada, and her colleagues, analyzed disease. Arzneimittel Forschung/Drug Research, the relationship between milk and carbonated soft 2001;51:293-298. drink consumption among 53 adolescent girls and 59 Zinc Supplements and Antioxidants adolescent boys. The peak time of bone-mineral accrual is at age 12.5 for girls and age 14 for boys, and Lower Risk of AMD Among Seniors poor bone development during these times can Taking either a moderately high-potency increase the lifelong risk of osteoporosis and bone antioxidant supplement or zinc – or a combination of fractures. both – can reduce the risk of developing age-related “We found that milk consumption decreased macular degeneration, or AMD. with increased consumption of low nutrient dense AMD is the leading cause of blindness among beverages [soft drinks], providing support for the elderly persons, and an estimated 1.7 million Ameri- theory that low nutrient dense beverages replaced 2 Vol. 12 No. 11 milk and thus affected bone mass,” wrote Whiting In this study, Thomas P. Erlinger, MD, of Johns and her colleagues. Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, and his col- However, increasing consumption of soft drinks leagues investigated beta-carotene, CRP, and white and decreasing intake of milk affected only adoles- blood cell levels among almost 15,000 people who cent girls. “Athough boys drink more low nutrient participated in the Third National Health and Nutri- dense beverages than the girls, the boys have a higher tion Examination Survey. High white blood cell calcium intake as well as a higher activity level, each counts are often indicative of inflammation. of which provides protection against an otherwise Erlinger found that both elevated CRP levels poor beverage choice,” she added.