Richters HerbLetter


Date: 2001/10/31
Contents
1. Bioterror Defenses: Lowly Weeds May Offer Answers
2. Lexington, Ky.-Area Herb Farmers Aid Growers Hurt by Sept. 11 Attack
3. Will Making Mail Safe From Anthrax Damage Seeds and Other Mail?
4. Canadian Echinacea "Scam" Appears to be "Breaking Down"
5. Canadian Herb Magazine Suspends Operations
6. The Newest Weapon against Alzheimer Disease Derived from Daffodils
7. U.S. Firm to Establish Certification of Dietary Supplements
8. Herbal Remedy Use Affected By Culture
9. Bastyr University to Research Garlic’s Effect on HIV
10. Patients With Parkinson Disease and Alternative Therapy
11. Three or More Cups of Coffee a Day Bad for Bones: Study
12. NFL Commissioner Told Ephedrine Supplements Are ‘Safe’
13. Canada’s Nutritional Supplement Manufacturers Defended
14. Widely Used Food Additive Made from Seaweed Causes Cancer
15. Doctors Need Herbal Use Data Before Surgery
16. Ontario Government Threatening to Shut Down Herbal Winery
17. U.S. Government Issues New Rules to Ban Hemp Foods
18. Supplement Company Sues Rival over Alleged Trademark Infringement
19. Government Must Ensure Safe Herbal Practice in Ghana
20. Chinese Patent Medicine Seizes Larger Market Share
21. Herb Business News

1. Bioterror Defenses: Lowly Weeds May Offer Answers
By Jeff Nesmith

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Tiny beacons that "light up" when they encounter germs and a virus-shredding protein fished from the insides of the lowly pokeberry are among weapons defense researchers hope to use someday in the war on terrorism.

Working under federal research grants, scientists are trying to find ways to immunize buildings, make one drug that destroys any disease-causing bacteria or virus, and even create skin creams like sunscreen to protect troops from germs.

A spokeswoman for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is financing the research, said this week the agency will not discuss its bioterrorism research. However, she said there have been no significant developments since June, when acting DARPA Director Jane A. Alexander sketched the agency’s research for the Senate Armed Services Committee.

DARPA spends slightly more than $165 million a year trying to find new technologies to protect "our military forces from biological warfare attack," Alexander said.

Among substances the agency thinks might be helpful is pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP), a chemical that pokeweed seems to have evolved to protect itself from viral plant diseases. PAP also destroys animal viruses.

Neither viruses nor just about anything else seems to faze pokeweed, which proliferates in Georgia and other Southern states, growing along fences, by country roads and in backyards. In late summer, the plant produces bunches of inedible berries filled with red juice. The berries also contain PAP.

Some scientists have proposed guiding PAP to attack cancer cells by attaching it to antibodies designed to home in on them. Others have proposed directing PAP to target the golf ball-shaped human immunodeficiency virus, and some believe it has promise as an eventual anti-AIDS drug.

University of Minnesota researchers are working with DARPA support to develop PAP as a biological warfare countermeasure.

Several other projects are based on concern that biological warfare is converging with biological engineering. The nightmare result might be the appearance of a disease never seen before and for which no cure is known.

The goal of scientists at Ibis Therapeutics in Carlsbad, Calif., is to develop a "universal" drug aimed at a vulnerable point in all bacteria, thus making it impossible to "engineer" a drug-resistant form. A similar search is underway for a universal virus drug.

DARPA’s Web site says little about its building immunization program. The primary problem, the agency acknowledges, is not what to do to keep a released biological weapon from entering a building through ventilation openings or doors. Rather, it is what to do about a bioattack that occurs inside the building.

Meanwhile, in a battlefield setting, the challenge is to protect a person from pathogens that could be absorbed through the skin.

Researchers at Noravax in Columbia, Md., another DARPA contractor, say they have developed materials that can dissolve bacteria or viruses "through a detergentlike action" or serve as decoys that attract and bind germs before they can enter cells. The substances can be rubbed onto the skin like sunscreen.


2. Lexington, Ky.-Area Herb Farmers Aid Growers Hurt by Sept. 11 Attack
By Beverly Fortune

LEXINGTON, Ky., Oct. 24, Lexington Herald-Leader -- Karin Rasmussen, a Garrard County herb farmer, doesn’t know Kerry Kernan, whose family has farmed 120 acres in Bridgeton, N.J., for four generations.

But the two now have a connection.

Rasmussen sells herbs on Saturdays at Lexington’s Farmers Market.

Kernan sold farm-fresh tomatoes, potatoes, squash and broccoli at the World Trade Center Greenmarket at the base of the south tower on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Sept. 11, he lost his truck, stall, scales and other equipment.

When Rasmussen learned of the destruction of the Greenmarket, she quickly talked to others at the Lexington Farmers Market about what they could do to help.

The farmers have collected money and are inviting the public to a Nov. 11 benefit, called A Feast for the Farmers.

"Farmers are farmers. They love raising food. They love the land, and even if we don’t know them (the Greenmarket farmers), in our hearts, we’re linked," said Rasmussen, who owns Herb ‘n Renewal Herb Farm with her husband, Drew.

The World Trade Center market was part of a citywide Greenmarket program run by a privately funded group affiliated with the New York City mayor’s office.

In peak season this year, 36 markets operated weekly at 26 locations in the five boroughs. The World Trade Center Greenmarket sold on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Following the tragedy, Lexington farmers donated the weekly fees they normally pay to the Lexington Farmers Market association. And since Sept. 15, customers have dropped money into jars set out at the Saturday market on Vine Street.

So far, $823 has been collected. Already, a check for $450 has been mailed directly to New York’s Greenmarket.

A Feast for the Farmers is being organized by John Foster, best known as the former chef at Dudley’s, plus a dozen other area chefs. They will prepare a four- to five-course dinner with vegetables and fruits donated by local farmers.

"We don’t know what’s going to be on the menu," Foster said. "We’ll fix whatever they bring us."

He added, "We’ve had great response from chefs and restaurateurs who want to help."

Kernan, 31, was among a dozen farmers who sold vegetables, flowers, fruits and herbs they raised -- no second selling -- in New York’s financial district.

Kernan’s father, Morris, began selling in the World Trade Center Greenmarket 18 years ago. "I was one of the first farmers there," Morris Kernan, 49, said in a telephone interview.

When the first plane hit Sept. 11, Morris Kernan quickly called his son on a cell phone. "He said he was going to get the good stuff -- the scales, the good tables, throw them in the truck and get out of here," Morris Kernan said.

But Kerry Kernan didn’t move fast enough.

He, his fiancee and a farm employee were still packing up when the second plane hit. "They just took off running as hard as they could and they didn’t stop till they reached the Brooklyn Bridge. That’s about 2 or 3 miles," Morris Kernan said. They escaped without serious injury, as did all the farmers. Only two farmers were able to jump in their trucks and speed away.

The other 10 lost their vehicles and all their equipment, including scales, tables and tarps. The Kernans lost their 1999 Ford F-450 pickup.

"Farmers at the trade center lost over $200,000 in physical property and $25,000 in produce that day," said Joel Patraker, assistant director for Greenmarket.

Kernan Farms sells at five other Greenmarkets, but losing the two markets a week at the World Trade Center has cut farm income by one-third, Morris Kernan said.

In the outpouring of disaster relief funds to attack victims, Patraker said he had not yet heard of any help going to the farmers.

When contacted by a reporter about the Kentucky farmers’ fund raising, he said, "I’m moved to tears. Please tell the farmers and chefs how grateful we are."

Rasmussen said she learned about the World Trade Center Greenmarket in a farmers’ market chat group on the internet.

"I never realized there was a farmers’ market there, but after Sept. 11, somebody came to the chat room and said, Say a prayer for the farmers in New York," Rasmussen said.

On Sept. 12, she looked up the Greenmarket telephone number and called the manager of the World Trade Center market, Tony Menetta.

"He said the farmers had lost everything," Rasmussen said.

Tickets for A Feast for the Farmers are $30 each and can be reserved by calling Foster at 277-6001. The dinner will be Nov. 11 at Hilton Suites at Lexington Green.

[Research assistant Linda Niemi contributed to this story.]


3. Will Making Mail Safe From Anthrax Damage Seeds and Other Mail?
By Amanda Onion

Oct. 30, ABC News -- It makes hamburgers safe to eat and could soon make mail safe to handle.

But some have questioned whether the electron beam irradiation systems the United States Postal Service bought late last week to help prevent the spread of anthrax through the mail could also endanger some commonly shipped items, including seeds, film and electronics.

According to radiation safety experts, the answer is yes.

"You would not want to put film or seeds anywhere near it," said Andrew Karam, a radiation safety officer at the University of Rochester in New York. Some electronic equipment, including personal digital assistants and computers, could also be affected, he said.

"Germs take a lot more radiation to kill. That means this would be a heavy dose."

Tests Will Determine Effects

The Postal Service announced on Friday it’s spending about $40 million to buy eight electronic pasteurization systems from Titan Corporation, a San Diego-based company that owns the so-called SureBeam technology. These irradiation units generate controlled, non-radioactive electronic beams to kill harmful bacteria. The technology is considered safer than using radiation from radioactive elements, which are more difficult to contain.

It’s a technology that’s been used for more than three years to treat meat and produce and it has long been applied to sterilize hospital equipment. Now it will be applied to letters and packages sent through the mail to stop the spread of biological agents.

The Postal Service says the equipment is being installed in "targeted areas" of the postal system and the first units are being delivered to the Washington, D.C., area. The postal service may buy as many as 12 units to install in mail processing centers across the country.

In a statement, the Postal Service said it is conducting research "to ensure that the technology used for sanitizing equipment does not cause other problems by damaging sensitive material."

Still, the prospect has some companies a little uneasy.

Seeds, Film, Technology Not Safe

"Depending on how high the radiation levels are, we might switch to a different carrier," said Colby Wolfe, a spokesman for Burpee Seeds, the largest seed shipping company in the United States, based in Warminster, Pa.

Ed McCabe, president of Mystic Color Labs, a Web-based photo development company that ships more than 3 million packages of film every year, is also unsure about possible implications.

"It’s very much in the air," he said. "We’re trying to see just what the machines will or will not do to our film."

Many questions remain about how widely the irradiation will be applied and how much some items will be affected. But Wil Williams, a spokesman for the Titan Corporation, is already sure of a few things: The machines can treat about 1,000 pounds of mail per hour. If used on packages containing electronics, the electron beams could damage the equipment; it could also expose unexposed film, damage plants and possibly inhibit seeds from germinating.

He claims it’s unlikely the technology will be applied to packages holding such goods.

"No one is making any claims this will be used to process everything," he said. "The point is not how the technology could damage mail, but how it could secure U.S. mail and get it back to normal," Williams said.

Bacteria Require a Heavy Dose

Here’s how the technology works: A power source pumps volts of electricity into a cathode ray tube where an electromagnet converts the electricity into a beam of electrons. The electrons are kept in a straight line by passing through a vacuum and then a scanner directs the beam onto the items passing by on a conveyor belt.

The beams penetrate the cell walls of any living thing on the items, including those of bacteria, and break down the organelles inside. The electrons can also stimulate chemical reactions that produce tiny, energetic short-lived molecules known as free radicals that can break down DNA.

"The beam of electrons, for all the world, act like a machine gun shooting bullets," explains Doug Holt, a food scientist at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Different levels of irradiation are needed to kill different creatures. According to Karam, a lethal dose of irradiation for birds and mammals, including people, is about 500-2,000 rems (a unit measuring radiation). The lethal range for higher plants is in the 800 to 100,000 range. Viruses and bacteria (including anthrax) are killed only at a whopping dose of 8,000 to 1 million rems.

That means any irradiation used to treat bacteria such as anthrax is likely to kill most everything else. Karam points out the irradiation needed to kill anthrax is about a hundred million times stronger than what items are exposed to under an average airport security X-ray machine.

Postal workers operating the irradiation system will be safe from radiation exposure, according to Karam and William, since, unlike some irradiation systems that use radioactive elements to kill bacteria, electronic beam irradiation is completely contained and controlled.

But any living items inside the mail are a different matter.

That could prove to be a nuisance for some, but, besides keeping mail safe from anthrax, it could also provide some hidden benefits.

Holiday season is approaching and Karam says he’d feel much safer eating a fruitcake that’s been irradiated no matter how old it is.

[Photo caption: The USPS announced it is spending about $40 million to buy eight electronic pasteurization systems that generate non-radioactive electronic beams to kill harmful bacteria. (Ben Margot/AP Photo)]


4. Canadian Echinacea "Scam" Appears to be "Breaking Down"
Oct. 31 -- Echinacea buy-back schemes directed at Canadian farmers appear to be "breaking down" according to a British Columbia echinacea grower who is monitoring the situation.

The buy-back promotions promise farmers high prices for Echinacea angustifolia roots and seeds if they buy their seedlings from promoters. Farmers are told that they can make big profits selling the roots and the seeds back at guaranteed prices. According to the B.C. grower monitoring the echinacea trade, farmers are getting suspicious of the companies they have bought seedlings from. "I think the latest scam is starting to break down," writes the B.C. grower in a recent email message. "Have had several calls in the last few days from [concerned] growers."

An Alberta farmer who been promised by a promoter that seeds would be bought back has now been told that he must now buy more seedlings in order to sell the seeds back to the promoter. The farmer bought seedlings from the promoter previously and now has seeds to sell but was told he must buy $10,000 more seedlings in order to sell back seeds to the promoter at $100 a pound. Not only is the requirement to buy more seedlings a surprise, the price is now much less than the original $500 a pound that had been promised.

Farmers are still being promised high prices for seeds and roots. A Manitoba farmer who recently invested $55,000 in seedlings was promised $500 a pound for seeds and $30-$35 a pound for roots, prices well above current market prices.

Herb farming expert, Richard Alan Miller, says he met several growers at a recent workshop held in Winnipeg who "got suckered into a purchase" of echinacea seedlings from promoters.

Farmers are told that they must grow the echinacea organically but don’t need to be certified organic. This is adding to concerns about the echinacea promotions because North America has moved toward the regulation of organic products which will require certification. Without certification, farmers cannot sell their products on the open market as organic and could be forced to sell their crops as non-organic if the buy-back schemes collapse.

Concerns about the buy-back schemes first surfaced in 2000 when promises of high prices were being made in the face of declining market prices. How any company can afford to pay more than the market price for a commodity like echinacea roots has raised doubts about the sustainability of the buy-back schemes.


5. Canadian Herb Magazine Suspends Operations
Oct. 20 -- Canadian herb magazine, Herbs at Home, has suspended operations while its owner reviews future options.

Herbs at Home, formerly known as The Gilded Herb, was founded by owner and publisher Jen Jones. The magazine, published in the eastern Ontario town of Dunsford, has been in existence for about three years. It developed a loyal following of readers, contributors and advertisers, reaching a circulation of 1400 paid subscribers and over 11,000 copies distributed through magazine rack sales in health food stores, variety stores and book stores such as Chapters.

According to former marketing director Martin Lister, owner Jen Jones succumbed to the stress of running a small magazine while trying to make ends meet. Although the magazine was growing, Lister said that it was too much work for too little return. He said that Jones has taken leave to consider options for the magazine.

The Homes at Home website says nothing about the print magazine’s suspension of operations, but does say that the HerbsAtHome E-zine is "undergoing maintenance" and advises visitors to check back. The subscription page for the print magazine on the website has been removed.

If Herbs at Home does not resume operation, it will leave the Ontario Herbalists Association’s Canadian Journal of Herbalism as the only Canadian herbs-only magazine still publishing.


6. The Newest Weapon against Alzheimer Disease Derived from Daffodils
By Sandra Black

TORONTO, Oct. 1, Hospital News -- As the population ages, more and more Canadians will be touched by Alzheimer Disease (AD), a progressive and ultimately fatal disease that robs individuals of their memory and their ability to think, communicate and care for themselves.

In fact, it is reaching epidemic proportions in Canada, affecting over 238,000 people age 65 or older. In 1996, over 52 per cent of Canadians knew someone with AD and almost 25 per cent of Canadians had someone with AD in their family. By 2031, over 750,000 Canadians will suffer from this devastating disease or a related dementia. Patients in the mild to moderate stages of the disease, however, now have a new treatment option with the recent Health Canada approval of REMINYL* (galantamine hydrobromide), unique in its source, mode of action, benefit and history.

Derived from Daffodils

Unlike other treatments currently available, galantamine is derived from a natural source -- the bulbs of daffodils, which surprisingly have a long association with memory. In fact, Homer’s Odyssey, written 2,500 years ago, contained perhaps the first recorded suggestion that extracts from a daffodil might affect the mind.

According to the ancient Greek epic, Ulysses set out to rescue members of his crew who were suffering from amnesia, having been drugged by the goddess Circe with an anticholinergic agent. On the way, Ulysses encountered the god Hermes who took the form of a young man in a forest. Hermes gave Ulysses a medicine to protect him from Circe’s mind-altering drugs and act as an antidote for the poisoned crew because it contained a cholinergic substance. The medicine came from a plant that had a black root and a milky-white flower. It is believed to be a reference to a tiny plant called a snowdrop, a type of daffodil, probably containing galantamine. With the help of the antidote, Ulysses was able to help his crew retrieve their memories and set back on their journey.

Dual Mode of Action

Greek myths aside, today it is known that people with AD are deficient in a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which is important to learning and memory. Galantamine is thought to affect the brain’s levels of this chemical in two ways. Like other treatments, galantamine inhibits the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which is responsible for the breakdown of acetylcholine. However, unlike other treatments, it is thought that galantamine may also act on the brain’s nicotinic receptors to further enhance the release of acetylcholine.

Clinical studies have consistently shown that galantamine produces significant and sustained benefits in memory, attention and decision-making abilities, as well as in activities of daily living (including patients’ abilities to wash, feed and dress themselves). In fact, research has shown that these benefits are sustained for at least one year. As a result, patients treated with galantamine may be better able to maintain language use, attention span, and shortterm memory recall, as well as understand their surroundings.

Delayed Behavioural Disturbances

More than 90 per cent of patients with dementia suffer from behavioural disturbances, with symptoms ranging from apathy, agitation and lack of inhibition to aggression, delusions and hallucinations. Galantamine is the first new treatment shown to delay the emergence of behavioural disturbances in mild to moderate stages of the disease. This is of particular significance since behavioural symptoms associated with Alzheimer Disease can cause caregiver distress and are a primary contributor to the decision to admit loved ones to institutional care. Galantamine’s impact on cognitive and behavioural symptoms may relieve caregiver burden and help keep patients in their homes. In fact, in a double-blind trial over a six-month period, when compared to placebo, galantamine reduced the time that caregivers needed to spend supervising patients or assisting them with activities of daily living by up to one hour per day. Studies have also shown galantamine to be well tolerated with a good safety profile. It was made available [in Canada] in September by prescription as oral tablets to be taken twice daily.

[Dr. Black is a Professor in the Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Head of the Division of Neurology at Sunnybrook & Women’s College Health Sciences Centre where she directs the Cognitive Neurology Research Unit and co-directs the Stroke Research Unit. She is also a senior scientist at Sunnybrook & Women’s and at the Rotman Research Institute. Baycrest Geriatric Centre, and University of Toronto.]

*All trademark rights used under license.


7. U.S. Firm to Establish Certification of Dietary Supplements
By Evan Pondel

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17, Daily News -- To bolster credibility, dietary supplements are seeking seals of approval amid complaints some manufacturers package anything but the herb on the label.

"All vitamins are not created equal," said Barbara Rosoff, a nutrition consultant who works at Follow Your Heart, a supermarket in Canoga Park that specializes in health food.

To curb phony herbs, U.S. Pharmacopeia is placing a stamp of approval on dietary supplements like those manufactured by Chatsworth-based Natrol Inc.

Many products have some sort of a seal of approval, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture for beef and American Dental Association for toothpaste. Now Pharmacopeia is attempting to certify dietary supplements.

"Right now, the big catch is that the nutritional supplement industry doesn’t have any good housekeeping seal of approval," said Mike Jamerson, marketing director of Natrol. "And U.S. Pharmacopeia is among the companies vying for that position."

About a week ago, representatives from Baltimore-based Pharmacopeia met with Natrol to discuss slapping their label on various products. While it was only a preliminary meeting, Natrol said it is seriously considering affixing a Pharmacopeia label to its products.

"They have a good reputation and they’re a well-recognized name in the industry," Jamerson said. "If something is USP approved, that will be a big boost for the product."

Still, Pharmacopeia is a nonprofit organization, not a government agency with a stringent set of guidelines like the Food and Drug Administration. For some, this raises concern when shopping for the right elixir.

"For me to legitimize a product, I need to see that it is standardized and look at the company that makes the product," said Elaine Blyler, a master of science, registered dietitian and faculty member at California State University, Northridge.

Herbalife International is a Century City-based company that markets an arsenal of dietary products. The company doesn’t believe it’s necessary to seek certification from a third-party organization because there’s no incentive.

"Our view is that we’ve never seen there is a benefit to have such a certification. The additional costs (for the certification) is passed on to the consumer and I think the current laws are more than adequate," said Edward Johns, a spokesman for the company.

Browsing the aisles at Follow Your Heart, many of the labels include the word "standardized." In order for a product to carry this word on its label, the contents are tested for both quality of the herb and the exact amount contained in each capsule, Rosoff said.

"Something like a Pharmacopeia could be a reputable program all companies might want to subscribe to and a stamp would probably alleviate cause for concern," she said.

In Germany, the government has adopted a formal screening process for different herbs. The government has intervened because Germany has national health insurance, Blyler said.

"If you look at their process, they publish the exact amount of different supplements you should take," she said.

Pharmacopeia has been around since 1820, promoting public health by establishing drug standards, education programs and, until recently, dietary supplement ingredient certification.

Sherrie Borden, a spokeswoman for the company, said the firm has conducted market research that concludes there is demand for a formalized dietary supplement certification.

However, the certification comes with a price tag.

"For that reason, we’re not going to put the USP label on all of our products," Jamerson said. "When they (USP) make their presentation in the coming months, the label will be used for tactical situations."

Pharmacopeia expects to have its certification stamps on products by mid-2002.


8. Herbal Remedy Use Affected By Culture
LONDON, Ontario, Oct. 2, Business Wire -- Use of herbal remedies and other alternative medicine modalities may have as much or more to do with cultural differences than dissatisfaction with conventional medicine, suggests a University of Miami study to be presented at the 2002 Caribbean Medical Cruise for Complementary/Alternative Therapies.

The survey by the university’s Department of Family Medicine of 800 patients at 13 primary-care practices in South Florida found that herbal medicines are used by 31.6 percent of patients, while 59.2 percent acknowledged using other dietary supplements such as minerals and vitamins.

Principal investigator Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger was surprised to find significant cultural differences in use of herbal remedies.

"For example, Hispanic patients are more likely to use home remedies than other patients, and patients with one or both parents born outside of the United States are more likely to use herbs and home remedies," Dr. Wollschlaeger said.

His findings will be presented during the 2002 Caribbean Medical Cruise for Complementary/Alternative Therapies, departing Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 3 and returning Feb. 10. The learning cruise is sponsored by The Institute of Integrated Medicine, Inc. of London, Ontario whose website can be accessed at www.doctorsteachingdoctors.com.

Dr. Wollschlaeger also reported that herbal sales fell 15 percent between 1999 and 2000, possibly attributable to negative publicity about potentially adverse effects and interactions with prescription drugs.

He nonetheless will report that about half of the herb-using patients surveyed were unaware of possible side effects or interactions.

Most patients had not advised their physician about their use of herbs or vitamins, but would volunteer such information if it was requested. Many indicated that they considered their physicians ill-informed about herbs and vitamins.

Comments Wollschlaeger: "Health care professionals need to be educated about the rational application of such remedies in the clinical practice to be able to engage in a meaningful interaction with their patients, who often prefer to seek guidance from a physician and not from a clerk in a health-food store."

Wollschlaeger is one of about 30 experts who will present on science-based complementary and alternative medicine topics during the seven-day learning cruise.


9. Bastyr University to Research Garlic’s Effect on HIV
KENMORE, Wash., Oct. 23, Business Wire -- Garlic is one of the most common herbs used medicinally by HIV positive individuals.

But the question remains: does it work and, in particular, is it an answer to unwanted side effects? The anti-viral "cocktail" of modern AIDS drugs (also called Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy or HAART) frequently cause high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Bastyr University medical researchers, working with their colleagues at the University of Washington, hope to resolve the garlic question with a nearly one million-dollar grant from The National Institutes of Health.

The NIH research grant is yet another example of research money flowing to the Puget Sound medical community in search of answers to the HIV puzzle. Bastyr University has been a pioneer in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) treatments for HIV. In the late 1980’s, an early, pilot study on holistic CAM interventions led the way to the establishment of one of the nation’s leading natural treatment centers. That center, at Bastyr University, was the first CAM program to receive federal money for HIV research.

Our Puget Sound community can once again be part of the solution by signing on as a subject volunteer. Potential study participants need to be HIV positive and taking the anti-viral "cocktail". Volunteers not only help solve the problem of anti-viral side effects, but receive health care benefits as well. For instance, they get very frequent viral load tests, so patient and physician can closely monitor the response to drugs. They will be seen by some of the top AIDS researchers in the nation and will be provided with specialized dietary information.

Drug/herb interactions have been a source of concern to some in the mainstream medical community. The Bastyr University study is distinguished by the many steps taken to determine if the interaction between garlic and the anti-viral drugs is safe.

Bastyr University is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the study of natural healing and is the leading university for natural health sciences in the United States. Bastyr encompasses a multi-disciplinary and rigorous curriculum, and the largest natural health clinic in the state of Washington in addition to our world-renowned research institute.


10. Patients With Parkinson Disease and Alternative Therapy
By Mike Mitka

CHICAGO, Oct. 24, Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 286, No. 16) -- A study published in the September 11 issue of Neurology found that among 201 patients with Parkinson disease, 40% used at least one type of alternative therapy and more than half failed to inform their physicians about such use.

The researchers, at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, said the high percentage of patients who did not tell their physicians about alternative therapy use is "concerning," since recent studies have shown that alternative therapies may have potentially harmful effects and interactions with other drugs.

Of the patients using alternative therapies, 26% said they used two therapies, 33% reported using more than two, and 12% used five or more. Of those who took vitamins and herbs, most used vitamin E, which surprised the researchers because a previous study found that vitamin E has no beneficial effect on Parkinson disease (N Engl J Med. 1993;32:176-183). Patients with Parkinson disease who used alternative therapies tended to be younger and better educated and have higher incomes than patients who did not. The researchers found no relationship between severity of disease and use of alternative therapies, suggesting that patients are not turning to these therapies out of desperation.


11. Three or More Cups of Coffee a Day Bad for Bones: Study
OMAHA, Neb., Oct. 26, CBC News -- A new study has found older women who drink more than three or four cups of coffee a day are more likely to experience bone loss than those who drink less.

Researchers also discovered that those with a certain genetic disposition may be more prone to bone loss when they consumed more caffeine. ‘The key is to consume caffeine in moderation’

Researchers at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska compared the bone density of 96 women (average age 71) over a three-year period.

They compared the women based on high and low caffeine consumption to examine the interaction between the caffeine, genetic type and the risk of osteoporosis or thinning of the bones.

Scientists believe osteoporosis is caused by a variety of factors from nutrition to lifestyle to genetics.

The women were divided up based on whether they consumed more or less than 300 mg of caffeine a day. A cup of coffee (250 ml) contains about 100 mg of caffeine, while the same size of tea contains 40 mg of caffeine. Soft drinks rate about 25 mg of caffeine.

Building Bones: foods with high calcium content

*Milk and cheese

*Salmon (with bones)

*Sardines (with bones)

*Almonds

*Sesame Seeds

*Cooked beans -- pinto, navy, kidney and garbanzo

*Dried figs

*Canned baked beans

"We found that the women with high caffeine intakes had significantly higher rates of bone loss from the spine," says study author Prema Rapuri. There was no change in bone density in those that had less caffeine.

Researchers measured the bone density at the spine, hip and three other sites.

Also, women who had a particular genotype called "tt" weren’t able to absorb vitamin D very well and that meant a greater risk of bone loss. Vitamin D is needed to help the body absorb calcium.

"The key is to consume caffeine in moderation," says Linda Massey, professor of human nutrition at Washington State University.

In other words, limit your coffee intake to two cups a day.

"Everybody has to go along with the assumption that they could be sensitive to caffeine," says Massey.

The study is published in the November issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.


12. NFL Commissioner Told Ephedrine Supplements Are ‘Safe’
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 3, PRNewswire -- The following is being issued by Metabolife International:

Garry Pay, General Counsel of Metabolife International who is also a former NFL player, has written NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, informing him that there are several clinical studies showing that ephedrine-containing supplements are safe and effective for weight control when used at recommended dosages by appropriate individuals.

Pay wrote his detailed letter in response to the NFL’s recent announcement that it had banned player use of ephedrine-containing dietary supplements for "performance enhancement purposes."

Metabolife International manufactures Metabolife 356(R), the nation’s leading dietary supplement used for weight loss. Although the product provides energy for dieting consumers, the company does not market its product for the purpose of enhancing athletic performance.

Pay expressed concern that media reports concerning the NFL announcement incorrectly implied that ephedrine-containing supplements were "unsafe for all uses, regardless of the dosage or the health of the individual."

"This is flatly untrue," he stated.

Pay cited several clinical studies, including those completed by scientists from Harvard and Columbia universities, that show such supplements are safe and effective for weight control when used at the recommended dosages by individuals who lack medical conditions described on the label.

Pay also pointed out that the Food and Drug Administration itself has stated that the "adverse" health events reported by supposed supplement users "do not offer proof that any supplement caused the death or injury listed...."

"The repeated innuendo in the media that such [reports] constitute ‘links’ to ephedrine-containing supplements is reminiscent of the famous logical fallacy: "The rooster crows...the sun rises....and, therefore, the rooster causes the sun to rise," Pay wrote.

For example, Pay cited that among the "events" in the FDA database so often referred to by news reports as "linked" or "associated" with ephedrine-containing supplements were such totally unrelated incidents as:

-- reports of deaths due to automobile accidents,

-- a report of a person who shot and killed a store clerk,

-- a report of 75-year old woman who began menstruating," and

-- a report of heartburn three days after discontinuing use of an ephedrine-containing product, in a patient who had gastric reflux!

As two examples of news reporting that used innuendo to suggest a causal connection -- when none in fact existed -- between use of an ephedrine-containing product and athletes who died tragically, Pay first cited the case of the late Rashidi Wheeler, a Northwestern University football player.

Press reports suggested that Wheeler’s deaths were "linked" to use of ephedrine-containing supplements for performance enhancement purposes, even though the coroner who performed the autopsy publicly declared that Mr. Wheeler’s death was unrelated to use of that supplement. Similarly, some reports of the NFL ban on ephedrine-containing supplements also made reference to the recent tragic death of NFL Minnesota Vikings player Korey Stringer, even though it has already been reported that Stringer died of heat stroke and did not have ephedrine in his blood.

"These tragic deaths of two fine young athletes distress me greatly," said Pay. "But this type of innuendo-based reporting, relying on a combination of junk science and pure invention, created the false impression that ephedrine-containing supplements are anything other than safe and effective for weight control when used at recommended doses by appropriate individuals, and that’s wrong."

Pay suggested that such misreporting may have led the NFL’s "Advisor on Anabolic Steroids," Dr. John Lombardo, to mistakenly state publicly that there was "growing evidence linking ephedrine to fatal heart rhythm difficulties, strokes, thermo-regulatory problems, seizures and other serious conditions."

"We sincerely hope that the Dr. Lombardo will review the basis for this statement as it is our strong belief that he erroneously based his statement on mischaracterization of the adverse event data collected by the FDA," Pay wrote. For example, Dr. Lombardo does not acknowledge that, according to the scientific evidence, when ephedrine-containing supplements are taken for weight loss with appropriate dosages and by appropriate individuals they are safe and effective.

Pay told the NFL Commissioner in his letter that Metabolife International supports a balanced science-based regulation by the FDA such as those adopted by such states as Nebraska and Ohio.

He concluded: "We also hope and trust that the NFL does not intend to inadvertently undermine the reputations of Metabolife and other ephedrine-containing supplement companies that are committed to the responsible use of products that have helped millions of Americans lose weight."


13. Canada’s Nutritional Supplement Manufacturers Defended
By James Christie

TORONTO, Oct. 13, Globe and Mail -- International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge says 25 per cent of nutritional supplements the IOC has collected from around the world are tainted with banned drugs, and athletes cannot pretend innocence if disqualified because of a doping test.

"He or she will hang," Rogge said in an interview with The New York Times.

But Canadian manufacturers of supplements say the inclusion of illicit substances not listed on the labels is a problem in the rest of the world.

"We are being tarred with the same brush as many of the suppliers in the United States who are dealing within their regulatory framework, which is very very weak," said Lionel Pasen, the vice-president for regulatory and governmental affairs for Nu-Life, which has a top selling line of nutritional supplements in Canada.

Pasen, who has been in the "nutriceuticals" business for 47 years, also represents the Canadian health food industry to Health Canada and chairs a suppliers caucus for the Canadian Health Food Association.

He understands the IOC’s hardline rhetoric, but says Canadian supplements are subject to the same rigorous standards for manufacturing and labelling as pharmaceutical medicines. A "made in America" problem arises from supplements there being classified under food legislation, rather than medicines.

"Here [in Canada], what you see on the label is what you get," he said. "There’s the odd rogue, but across the board, you find compliance."

Dr. Christiane Ayotte, the director of the IOC-approved antidoping laboratory in Montreal, backed up that assertion.

"The risks of getting a positive out of supplements are real but certainly low in countries where the hormonal supplements such as andro [androstenedione], norandro et cetra are illegal," she said. "In Canada, we have tested the supplements given by athletes who had tested positive and we did not find the hormones."

The IOC investigation at the antidoping lab in Cologne, Germany, has uncovered steroids and stimulants such as ephedrine and caffeine in one in four of the substances, but no mention of the stuff on the labels.

Rogge called it "a dangerous trend from a sports medicine point of view. They’re unnecessary. Athletes think they will give them an edge. The IOC told athletes three years ago they do not help your performance. Be aware that within those products are forbidden substances."

In Canada, chances of contamination are slim, Pasen said. Manufacturers comply with "pages and pages of good manufacturing practices: on getting the raw products, how they’re stored and combined, how they must be weighed separately. And someone else checks before they’re mixed. All steps are signed for. You have to show sanitation of equipment, when it was cleaned. Record keeping is onerous."

Ingredients from outside the country are quarantined and analyzed by a third-party laboratory, he said.


14. Widely Used Food Additive Made from Seaweed Causes Cancer
WESTPORT, Conn., Oct. 15, Reuters Health -- A number of studies have found that the widely used food additive carrageenan causes cancer in laboratory animals and, according to a new report, its use in human food should be reconsidered.

Although the studies have been conducted only in animals, "enough evidence exists about the cancer-causing effects of carrageenan to limit the use of the food additive," said Dr. Joanne K. Tobacman of the University of Iowa Health Care in Iowa City.

Carrageenan, an extract from red seaweed, is used in a variety of foods, such as milk products and processed meat as a thickener, stabilizer and texturizer. It can be found in products such as ice cream, whipped cream, pudding and yogurt, Dr. Tobacman told Reuters Health.

Dr. Tobacman reviewed the results of 45 previously published animal studies and found carrageenan to be associated with the formation of gastrointestinal ulcers and tumors. "Both undegraded as well as degraded forms of carrageenan are associated with malignancies," she said.

Her report is published in the October issue of Environmental Health Perspectives [Environ Health Perspect 2001;109:983-994].

Carrageenan, Dr. Tobacman explained, is taken up by intestinal cells rather easily, but the cells are unable to metabolize it. As carrageenan accumulates in cells it may cause them to breakdown, and over time this process could lead to ulceration, she noted.

"Ulceration," she added, "seems to be associated with the development of malignancies."

In 1972, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed limiting the type of carrageenan that could be used in food. But the regulatory effort was rescinded in 1979, Dr. Tobacman told Reuters Health.

"There has been no substantive review by the FDA of carrageenan since the studies undertaken more than two decades ago," she writes in her report. "However, there has been increased evidence regarding the cancer-promotion activity of undegraded carrageenan and further confirmation of the potential of degraded carrageenan."

Dr. Tobacman stressed that "people need to be informed about the potential risks that are associated with eating carrageenan based on animal studies."


15. Doctors Need Herbal Use Data Before Surgery
By Bruce Sylvester

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 28, UPI -- Patients should be forthcoming before surgery about all medications and herbal supplements they are taking, a leading expert in herbal treatments and anesthesia told a national gathering of science reporters today.

"Anesthesiologists are increasingly concerned about the fact that many of the patients who come for surgery are on herbal medications," Dr. Jonathan Moss, professor of anesthesia and critical care at the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago told United Press International.

"Herbal medications can be very biologically important and should really be treated as drugs. Because we are administering a number of pharmaceutical agents at once -- before, during and after a surgical procedure -- and because blood loss and maintaining proper blood circulation and coagulation are so important, it becomes essential that patients alert the physician to any herbal remedies they may be taking," said Moss. "This disclosure is important at any time, but it becomes crucial before a surgical procedure."

Dr. Moss spoke Sunday at the American Medical Association’s 20th Annual Science Reporters Conference in San Francisco. "It’s very hard to get a handle on this. There are no placebo-controlled double blind trials on the effect of herbals on surgical outcomes and side effects. What we do know is that the active product or ‘name’ ingredient that you get in products in the grocery store or the pharmacy has a 200 percent variability rate--which means that you don’t really know how much you are getting. It is very easy in this kind of market situation to have herbal intakes that will interfere with bleeding control and our anesthetic medications," Moss said.

"If you get a paper cut and you’re taking gingko, it’s not a big deal, but if you’re taking gingko and you have a hip replacement, it may be a big deal. We can give blood transfusions, but if we can minimize giving blood by reducing bleeding, that’s even better," he added.

Moss identifies eight of the most commonly used herbs that, from case studies, appear to effect surgical outcomes: valerian, echinacea, ephedra, ginkgo biloba, kava, garlic, ginseng and St. John’s wort. He suggests that a patient first disclose his or her use of herbal supplements to his or her physician and surgical team.

Moss has relied largely on a series of published case reports to document his concerns. "To complicate matters, there is no real reporting mechanism for adverse reactions to herbs. This makes it difficult to study the effects of herbs because it is almost impossible to retrospectively define what the patient has taken and how much of the biologically active component of the herb was really taken," he explains. "Studying herbal adverse reactions is not like studying beta-blockers taken in exact amounts. Right now we don’t have access to purified compounds as we do with conventional drugs."

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) recommends that patients should stop taking herbal products at least 2 to 3 weeks prior to surgery. If surgery is necessary more quickly, patients should bring the product to the hospital in the original container so the anesthesiologist can determine the exact ingredients.

Former ASA president said, Dr. John Neeld, Jr. adds to this recommendation, "Just because these medicines are labeled ‘natural’ or ‘herbal’ does not mean that they are safe or harmless."


16. Ontario Government Threatening to Shut Down Herbal Winery
Oct. 31 -- A Toronto maker of herbal medicinal wines has been threatened with closure by the Ontario provincial alcohol regulator, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

Jack Kong, owner of King Ridge Wines, says that two inspectors visited his Toronto Chinatown store in September and told him that he must stop selling his product because it is not legal to be sold in stores under Ontario’s alcohol law. Kong says that the inspectors refused to give him a written order, saying only that he must cease selling to the public in the store or face losing his license to operate a winery.

The Japanese-style fermented herbal wines made by King Ridge Wines apparently fall in a grey area of the law. Mr. Kong has been battling this issue for eight years but, he says, he is at wit’s end now that the government is insisting he shut down.

The herbal wines are made following a centuries old tradition of medicine practiced in Japan called Kampo. According to Mr. Kong, herbal wines are "traditional food medicine" in oriental culture and Kampo has been "widely used in Japan and some areas of China." He claims that the use of Kampo medicine in the Orient helps to explain the low incidence of menopause among oriental women compared to North American women.

According to Mr. Kong, the government is aware that changes to the liquor laws may be necessary to deal with medicinal wines. Unlike herbal tinctures made with alcohol sold widely in health food stores, Mr. Kong’s herbal wines are treated differently because the manufacturing process is different. Tinctures made with added alcohol are regulated as natural health products by the federal government, but Mr. Kong’s products are fermented, making them wines in the eyes of the provincial AGCO, so they fall under the provincial law that tightly controls the sale of alcoholic products in stores. It is ironic that Mr. Kong’s medicinal wines have less than half the alcohol of herbal tinctures, yet it is much easier to make and sell the latter.

Mr. Kong insists that he wants to be "completely above board" and is willing to comply with rules that allow his product to be sold to the public. If that means that the alcohol law has to be changed, then he will push for those changes. But confused and disheartened that his business may be closed, Mr. Kong is looking for help to break the regulatory impasse. Mr. Kong has appealed to his member of provincial parliament, Rosario Marchese, and to the herbal community to help apply pressure on the government.

But some herbalists are wary of throwing support behind Mr. Kong in fear of losing access to herbal tinctures. Observers in the herbal community who are familiar with the case worry that if the government decides to review the sale of all alcoholic medicinal products in stores, herbal tinctures may get swept into a more restrictive law that might force the sale of all such products through the government’s Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores just as wines and liquor are sold now.

At least one herbalist familiar with herbal medicine regulation at the federal level has suggested that Mr. Kong’s herbal wines might qualify as "traditional medicine" under new regulations proposed by the Natural Health Products Directorate in Ottawa. Mr. Kong has not pursued this route because he is not sure that this will solve his problems with AGCO which may still treat his operation as a winery.

Mr. Kong’s store remains open for now, but there is no telling when or if the provincial inspectors will be back to close down his store or to revoke his winery license.


17. U.S. Government Issues New Rules to Ban Hemp Foods
By Paul Benhaim

UNITED KINGDOM, Oct. 11, Hemp Food Industries Association -- The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published rules regarding industrial hemp products in the Federal Register on October 9, 2001 which were effective immediately. Without any compelling reason or the required public notice and comment period, the DEA issued an interpretive rule banning hemp seed and oil food products that contain any amount of trace residual THC, devastating the hemp food industry and potentially subjecting businesses and consumers to federal criminal penalties. DEA also issued an interim rule exempting hemp bodycare and fiber products from DEA control, but the legal status of bodycare products is now ambiguous. Hemp seeds and oil have absolutely no psychoactive effect and are about as likely to be abused as poppy seed bagels for their trace opiate content, or fruit juices because of their trace alcohol content (present through natural fermentation).

Furthermore, the hemp industry has established the science based TestPledge (http://www.testpledge.com) program. TestPledge companies clean their seed and oil to assure consumers a wide margin of safety from confirming positive in a workplace drug-test even when eating an unrealistic amount of hemp foods daily. The DEA’s actions are especially puzzling, as they have not targeted poppy seeds and their trace opiates. In fact, the U.S. government raised drug-test thresholds for opiates in the 1990’s to accommodate the poppy seed industry.

Hemp seed is one of nature’s most perfect sources for human nutrition. In addition to its excellent flavor profile, the seeds supply all the essential amino acids in an easily digestible form with a high protein efficiency ratio. Hemp oil offers high concentrations of the two essential fatty acids (EFA’s) in a perfect ratio of the omega-3/omega-6 acids. This superior nutritional profile makes shelled hemp seed and oil ideal for a wide range of functional food applications and as an effective fatty acid supplement. Not surprisingly, shelled hemp seed and oil are increasingly used in natural food products, such as corn chips, nutrition bars, hummus, nondairy milks, breads and cereals.

The high and balanced essential fatty acid content of hemp oil also makes it ideal as a topical ingredient in both leave-on and rinse-off bodycare products. The EFA’s help soothe and restore skin in lotions and creams and give excellent emolliency and smooth after feel to lotions, lip balms, conditioners, shampoos, soaps and shaving products. Estimated retail sales for hemp food and bodycare products in the U.S. exceeded $25 million in 2000, up from less than $1 million in the early 90’s. Hemp foods and bodycare products have penetrated the mainstream marketplace and rapid growth was expected to continue before Tuesday’s DEA action.

Poppy seeds contain trace opiates, fruit juice contains trace alcohol, hemp seeds contain trace THC. Trace contaminants exist in nature and in our food supply, and our government regulatory agencies set limits to protect consumer health. The hemp industry has responsibly addressed all health, safety and drug-testing issues with a wide margin of safety, and would like to formalize TestPledge standards with governmental sanction. However, the DEA does not want to acknowledge the truth of hemp seed and oil foods: that they are a superior nutritional resource for Americans.

Hemp offers environmental advantages and has a long history of use for paper, fabrics, cordage and birdseed, as well as being a nutritional food and superior bodycare ingredient. Hemp is now being grown in 29 countries including Canada, England, France, Germany and Spain. Each of these countries has adopted regulatory models that allow for safe human consumption of hemp products. Legislation relating to hemp has been passed in 16 states. This past year, the National Conference of State Legislatures adopted a resolution calling for changes to federal laws to allow for domestic hemp cultivation.

For more information on the phenomenal potential of industrial hemp, please visit: http://www.votehemp.com and http://www.thehia.org.

The DEA’s planned new rules will cause substantial harm to hemp businesses and consumers alike and are not based on any real threat or abuse potential. Like poppy seed, hemp seed is clearly exempted from the Controlled Substances Act by Congress. 21 U.S.C. 802(16), (19) and (20). The hemp industry is currently pursuing legal action.


18. Supplement Company Sues Rival over Alleged Trademark Infringement
By Bob Mims

PROVO, Utah, Oct. 2, Salt Lake Tribune -- Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of herbs, vitamins and food supplements, has asked a federal judge to halt a Florida-based company from marketing health products under a similar logo design.

In its U.S. District Court lawsuit, Provo-based Nature’s Sunshine also seeks damages to be determined at trial against Nature’s Treasure Products Inc., and a court order forcing the company to destroy all materials bearing the challenged logo.

Nature’s Sunshine, founded in 1972, contends the 3-year-old Nature’s Treasure has adopted a logo that in many ways mirrors its own logo, trade and house marks. Nature’s Sunshine argues it has used versions of its own distinctive design -- an oval framing a pastoral farm scene and bearing the banner, "Quality, Service, Integrity" since 1981.

Nature’s Treasure, the suit alleges, labels its products with a nearly identical oval logo framing a mountain. It also bears a banner that reads, "Quality, Warranty, Service."

Several calls to Nature’s Treasure offices in Coral Gables, Fla., went unanswered. The company’s registered agent, Miami attorney Manuel Arvesu, was out of his office Monday and could not be reached for comment.

Margaret McGann, Nature’s Sunshine’s Salt Lake City attorney, said she has been instructed by her client not to discuss the suit, which has been assigned to U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba. No hearing has been scheduled in the case.

The complaint contends the Florida company -- one of whose officers, Katherine Cordova, is alleged to be a former Nature’s Sunshine distributor -- began using the challenged logo, trade and house marks shortly after being incorporated in July 1998.

Nature’s Sunshine fears "irreparable injury of an insidious and continuing nature" without the court’s intercession.

Alleging infringements of both its federal and Utah trademarks, along with unfair competition and false representation, Nature’s Sunshine demands injunctions and re- straining orders prohibiting further use of Nature’s Products’ logo.

The suit also asks that Nature’s Products be forced to surrender all signs, molds, prints, labels, invoices, promotional and other materials bearing the logo, and that their destruction be confirmed with- in 30 days of receipt of the court’s orders to do so.


19. Government Must Ensure Safe Herbal Practice in Ghana
By Stephen A. Quaye

KOFORIDUA, Ghana, Oct. 29, Ghanaian Chronicle -- The government should have a body to oversee the process of testing herbal medicine to protect the potent rights of herbalists.

Again, the government should set up a traditional herbalists council to bring all herbalists together to share ideas and fight a common purpose.

These were some of the views expressed and recommendations passed to the government at a round table discussion held in Koforidua between doctors, media and traditional herbalists who claim to have a cure for HIV/AIDS in the Eastern Region on October 23.

The meeting offered the traditional herbalists the opportunity to substantiate their claim of having a cure for the disease and the way forward to curb the pandemic.

Other views expressed at the meeting were that a voluntary organization should be formed so that people who have tested positive to HIV/AIDS can willingly submit themselves to traditional medicines which are claimed can cure the disease.

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Samson R. Ofori, Eastern Regional AIDS co-ordinator said the cumulative cases of HIV so far recorded up to last year is 43,587 cases nation wide.

He maintained that the rate of HIV infection is still on ascendancy which means that the campaign is not going down well and still more have to be done.

The AIDS co-ordinator further maintained that still there is no cure or vaccine to cure the disease but there is medicine for infected persons to live longer.

The two herbalists who claim to have a cure to HIV were given the opportunity to substantiate their claim.

Both Mr. Osei Kyei and Alhaji Ibrahim Oteng claim to have cure for HIV/AIDS.

Mr. Stephen Osafo-Mensah, a research fellow at the Center for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, said the centre conducts a lot of research into plant medicines.

Presenting the statistics, he said 70% of the country’s population relies on traditional medicine because it is accessible.

He pointed out that the medicines are processed for future use and that there is no censure of medicines submitted by herbalists to the centre for testing as they claim. Osafo-Mensah said the centre has a Hebaron section, which is storing 3,500 species of plant medicine for future use.

Again, the centre has 1,000 acres of land for growing medicinal seedlings and that healers can call and collect plants for cure of other diseases.

He urged all who have claim to HIV/AIDS to submit their products for testing and approval that they can cure HIV/AIDS.

Earlier in his welcome address, Mr. Boateng Mensah, Executive Director of Philip Foundation, organizers of the meeting, said the role of quack herbalists are seriously negating gains made and the credibility of the practice of traditional medicines.

"The onus of weeding out the quack ones from their midst rests with the traditional practitioners themselves", he warned.

Mensah recommended that their association vigorously pursue the effort at weeding out quack practitioners.


20. Chinese Patent Medicine Seizes Larger Market Share
CHINA, Oct. 29, China Medical News -- The Chinese patent medicine industry has witnessed fast growth in recent years, with its present annual sales hitting 40 billion yuan (about 4.8 billion U. S. dollars), almost 40 times the figure reported two decades ago.

Ren Dequan, deputy director of the Chinese State Drug Administration, made the announcement at an international seminar on herbal medicine recently held in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province.

About 70 percent of the medicinal herbs in China are now used to make patent medicine, instead of just being processed into prepared pieces for decoction, as they were twenty years ago, Ren said.

Nowadays, China has more than 100 Chinese patent medicine plants whose annual sales exceed 100 million yuan, and about a dozen of them even reported 100 million US dollars in their annual sales.

As China opens further to the outside world, Chinese patent medicine will be embraced by more overseas consumers and seize a larger international market, Ren said.


21. Herb Business News
American Wild Woodland Ginseng: Cease Trade Order Issued

VANCOUVER, B.C., Oct. 30, Market News Publishing -- A Cease Trade Order has been issued by the B.C. Securities Commission dated October 29, 2001 against [American Wild Woodland Ginseng] for failing to file the documents indicated [comparative financial statement 2001/05/31].

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Badia Spices: Recall of Contaminated Paprika


WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 -- Miami-based Badia Spice completed a recall of salmonella-contaminated paprika according to an enforcement report issued by the Food and Drug Administration today. Over 68,000 units of paprika powder, including some 55 pound bags, were recalled from several U.S. states and other countries.

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Blue Light: Recall of Chinese Medicines Containing Aristolochia


WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 -- According to a Food and Drug Administration enforcement report issued today, a recall of chinese patent medicines containing aristolochia acid was completed. The recall, by Ithaca, N.Y., firm, Blue Light, was initiated in March and June of this year.

The recall affected products sold under the Treasures of the East brand made by Tianjiang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. of China. The products contained the Chinese herb guan mu tong or aristolochia which contains aristolochic acid, a potent carcinogen and nephrotoxin. About 2000 bottles of patent medicines were recalled.

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Botanicals International: Granted U.S. Patent for Powder Manufacturing


LONG BEACH, Calif., Oct. 30, Primezone -- Botanicals International (BI), one of the world’s leading suppliers of natural ingredients to dietary supplement, pharmaceutical and food ingredient manufacturers, today announced that the United States Patent Office granted a new patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,276,917) to the Company.

The patent covers a process to form herbal powders that are denser, more granular and generate less dust without the use of fillers or excipients. As a result, BI customers can improve their manufacturing efficiencies and product quality, in a cost-effective manner.

"BI has consistently led the industry through high quality products, innovation, and strong regulatory expertise. This latest invention demonstrates our company’s on-going commitment to the dietary supplement industry, as well as our technical group’s understanding of the difficulties our customer’s can experience in processing herbal products," said Emilio Gutierrez, BI’s technical director.

The new product line will be marketed under the Ultra HD or UHD (Ultra -- High -- Density) trade name.

Botanicals International, founded in 1977 and headquartered in Long Beach, California, is a full service supplier of dietary supplements. BI manufactured products undergo quality testing under the Identilok(r) species identification process. BI’s products include whole herb powders and teas, standardized and drug ratio extracts, custom blends designed for specific indications, vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements.

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Burpee: Seed Company Files for Chapter 11 Protection


By Benjamin Y. Lowe

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 5, Inquirer -- After several acquisitions and a stand-alone retail-gardening operation failed to germinate, W. Atlee Burpee & Co.’s parent has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Burpee Holding Co., a garden-seed supplier in Warminster, said the filing did not involve its four operating subsidiaries, which the company said would not be affected.

"This is just a credit and financing issue for the holding company," George C. Ball Jr., the company’s chairman, said yesterday.

Though he would not be specific, Ball said the company’s finances had come under pressure from several acquisitions that had not paid off. "It was a question of our banks’ patience with our performance," Ball said in explaining the Sept. 21 filing in Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia. "They became less patient, even as we started to perform better."

The catalog company’s problems also stemmed from failed investments in a four-store retailing operation, said Stan Pohmer, a seed-industry consultant and president of Pohmer Consulting Group in Minnetonka, Minn.

The stores, the 125-year-old company’s first retail outlets, opened in 1999 and were closed last spring, said Bridget Wilson, managing editor of Seed World magazine and Greenhouse Product News in Des Plaines, Ill.

"They were within the industry but beyond their core competency," Pohmer said. "Going from being a seed producer and publisher of catalogs and magazines, and then going into retail is a whole different thing."

Together with NK Lawn and Garden Co. of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Ferry-Morse Seed Co. of Fulton, Ky., Burpee ranks as one of the top three consumer-seed producers nationwide, Pohmer said.

Burpee Holding’s four subsidiaries had combined 2000 revenue of more than $50 million and employed about 1,400, according to Dun & Bradstreet Inc., the credit-rating firm. With more than $30 million in sales, W. Atlee Burpee & Co. is the biggest and most well-known of the operations.

The company’s bankruptcy filing lists subsidiaries of the PNC Financial Services Group Inc., of Pittsburgh, as the largest creditors, with $16.6 million owed.

Other listed debts include $2.7 million to Medford Center Associates, a Moorestown shopping mall operator, and $1.7 million of acquisition debt to Heronswood Nursery Ltd., of Kingston, Wash. None of the creditors would comment.

Burpee’s poor performance has had little to do with the slowing economy, said Wilson, the magazine editor.

"Everybody knows the economy is not very good, but floriculture has been protected," Wilson said. She said the U.S. market had annual sales of at least $2 billion. "It is still growing at double-digit figures."

Ball bought W. Atlee Burpee & Co. in February 1991 for an undisclosed amount. Jonathan Burpee, the founder’s grandson, was the last family member to work for the company. He was fired in 1993.

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Fytokem: Files Patent Application for Fytolastin(TM) Anti-Aging Compounds


SASKATOON, Sask., Oct. 18, CNW -- Fytokem Products Inc., a Canadian life sciences company engaged in the discovery and commercialization of therapeutic plant extracts and bioactive molecules for the personal care, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and bio-industrial industries, today announced it has submitted a patent application to the Canadian Patent Office regarding the activity and use of plant-based inhibitors of the elastase enzyme.

"This newly submitted patent application provides valuable intellectual property protection for this important group of compounds," said Art Hesje, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fytokem. "The patent application is representative of our continued efforts to discover new, useful products and to build a secure proprietary position for all of our commercially significant bioactive discoveries." Fytokem now has a total of four patents pending in major jurisdictions throughout the world, covering a range of bioactive plant extracts and their constituents.

The Fytolastin(TM) line of products covered in the patent application are potent natural extracts that inhibit the activity of the elastase enzyme. They may be included in a range of therapeutic skin products including moisturizers, skin protectants, after-sun products, as well as anti-aging and anti-wrinkling products that are designed to protect against the ravages of time and exposure to the elements such as the sun, wind, and other irritants.

About Fytolastin(TM) and Anti Aging

Increased activity of the elastase enzyme causes tissue injury and damage resulting in skin problems such as aging, wrinkling, and inflammation, as well as other conditions, especially pulmonary and inflammatory disease such as emphysema and cystic fibrosis. Dryness, aging and irritation of the skin caused by UV exposure, environmental stress, and numerous other factors that can cause an increase in elastase activity. Elastase inhibitors have shown potential in skin care products, as well as several other areas currently under investigation.

Unlike cosmetics or general skincare products that mask the signs of aging, cosmeceuticals encompassing Fytolastin(TM) can provide genuine therapeutic benefits by influencing the activity of the enzyme which directly causes wrinkling and sagging of the skin. Elastase inhibitors are attractive to the personal care market because of their ability to prevent wrinkling and other damaging effects from occurring in the skin.

Fytolastin(TM) is being evaluated for inclusion in a line of skincare products developed by Calgary plastic surgeon, Dr. Wayne Perron. "I have enjoyed working with Fytokem’s existing products and have found they are quite effective," commented Dr. Perron. He continued, "Based on my experience with Fytokem’s other products, and the research I’ve seen on Fytolastin(TM), it is a very promising product with broad application in the anti-aging skin care market. I look forward to further evaluation of Fytolastin(TM) and its potential applications."

About Fytokem Products Inc.

Fytokem Products Inc. is a Canadian life sciences company engaged in the discovery and commercialization of novel Function-Certified(TM) plant-based substances -- extracts, phytochemicals and bioactive molecules -- for use as ingredients in personal care, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and bio-industrial products, both domestically and internationally. Fytokem has applied for several scientific patents, covering a range of bioactive molecules and therapeutic activities.

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Fytokem: Files Preliminary Prospectus for Unit Offering


SASKATOON, Oct. 23, CNW -- Fytokem Products Inc., a Canadian life sciences company engaged in the discovery and commercialization of therapeutic plant extracts and bioactive molecules for the personal care, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and bio-industrial industries, today announced that it has filed a preliminary prospectus with the Saskatchewan Securities Commission to raise a minimum of $1,100,000 and a maximum of $1,500,000 through a Unit offering in Saskatchewan. Under the terms of an agency agreement with Saskatoon-based Sanderson Securities Ltd., Fytokem will offer for sale a minimum of 44,000 Units and a maximum of 60,000 Units, each Unit consisting of common shares, a 10.125% unsecured, redeemable debenture due December 15, 2009, and a common share purchase warrant entitling the holder to purchase common shares. Fytokem has also granted Sanderson Securities Ltd. an over-allotment option to offer up to an additional 9,000 Units upon the same terms.

Fytokem intends to use the proceeds from this offering of Units for the purchase of capital assets, product development, market expansion and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Saskatchewan residents can obtain a copy of the preliminary prospectus by contacting Sanderson Securities Ltd. at (306) 242-5800.

About Sanderson Securities Ltd.

Sanderson Securities Ltd. was formed in 1983 as a full-service investment and financial planning house. It is 100% Saskatchewan owned and operated, with more than 50 representatives associated with the firm. The president of the company, Wayne L. Sanderson, CLU, has been involved with the financial services field since 1964.

Mr. Sanderson views the Fytokem Products Inc. offering as "a unique opportunity for Saskatchewan residents to invest in a local life sciences company with worldwide sales and growth potential."

About Fytokem Products Inc.

Fytokem Products Inc. is a Canadian life sciences company engaged in the discovery and commercialization of novel Function-Certified(TM) plant-based substances -- extracts, phytochemicals and bioactive molecules -- for use as ingredients in personal care, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and bio-industrial products, both domestically and internationally. Fytokem has applied for several scientific patents, and has developed a proprietary commercial scale manufacturing process.

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Pharmavite: Launches Cholest-Off(TM) in U.S. Containing Phytrol(TM)


VANCOUVER, B.C., Oct. 31, Forbes Medi-Tech -- Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. announced today that one of North America’s leading nutritional supplement manufacturers and distributors, Pharmavite Corporation, makers of Nature Made(R) and Nature’s Resource(R) supplements, has launched Nature Made Cholest-Off(TM),a cholesterol lowering supplement containing Forbes’ proprietary plant sterol and stanol-based ingredient Phytrol(TM) (brand name Reducol(TM)), in the U.S.

Cholest-Off(TM) will be sold exclusively in food, drug, mass merchandise, and club stores in the U.S. and will be available to consumers beginning in November 2001. The Cholest-Off(TM) launch represents the second major introduction of a Reducol(TM)-based dietary supplement this year.

"As the second U.S. launch in the supplement category, the Cholest-Off(TM) introduction now means Reducol(TM) will be available though all major retail distribution channels in the United States," said Tazdin Esmail, Chairman and CEO, Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. "With the growing awareness of the health risks of high cholestero levels as acknowledged by the U.S. National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel, the availability of natural and effective sterol-based supplements gives consumers more treatment options in the fight against cardiovascular disease."

"With more than 100 million Americans suffering from borderline to high cholesterol (1) and the recent concerns about the safety of other cholesterol-lowering methods in the news, many consumers want natural and safe solutions in the battle against this serious health concern," said Genevieve Beauvais, Product Manager, New Products, Pharmavite.

"Plant sterols and stanols are proven natural cholesterol reducers, but until now these ingredients were mainly found in specialty margarines and salad dressings. Cholest-Off(TM) offers consumers yet another option in an easy-to-swallow caplet form."

Cholest-Off(TM) will be available in 60-count caplets for a suggested retail price of US$8.99 with each Cholest-Off(TM) caplet containing 0.45 grams of Reducol(TM). The recommended daily dose of Cholest-Off (TM) is two caplets twice per day (1.8 grams) taken with a low-fat meal.

Reducol(TM) is a proprietary plant sterol/stanol blend developed and manufactured by Forbes Medi-Tech. The plant sterols and stanols in Reducol(TM) have been clinically proven to safely and effectively lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels by up to 24 per cent when combined with a healthy diet. Of this 24 per cent reduction in LDL cholesterol, approximately nine percent can be attributed to a healthy diet.(2)

"High cholesterol has hit epidemic proportions here in the United States -- mainly as a result of poor diet and lack of exercise," added Lynn Moss, M.S., R.D., Continuing Education Specialist with Pharmavite.

"In addition, diet alone doesn’t provide a sufficient amount of plant sterols and stanols to significantly reduce LDL cholesterol levels. Adding 1-2 grams daily of plant sterols and stanols, like those found in Cholest-Off(TM), helps block cholesterol absorption in the intestine and, as a result, significantly lowers cholesterol levels."

Plant sterols and stanols, also known as phytosterols and phytostanols, are lipid-like compounds found in plants. Plant sterols are present in varying concentrations and compositions in some grains, fruits and vegetables. Most people consume 0.2 -- 0.3 grams per day of phytosterols as part of a normal healthy diet. The molecular structure of phytosterols is similar to that of dietary cholesterol, which is absorbed in the intestine and transported through the bloodstream. Plant sterols and stanols work by blocking the absorption of cholesterol in the small intestine thereby lowering blood cholesterol levels significantly.

Last May, the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel, the U.S. body that provides guidelines to physicians on the management of high cholesterol, issued new clinical guidelines directing doctors to advise their patients to consume two grams of plant sterols/stanols daily to reduce high blood cholesterol levels.

Coronary heart disease is responsible for approximately 40 per cent of all deaths in the U.S., and high blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for this disease. According to the American Heart Association, more than 100 million American adults have elevated cholesterol levels. More than 2,600 people die each day in the U.S. as a result of cardiovascular disease, an average of one death every 33 seconds.

Based in Northridge, California, Pharmavite Corporation is one of the leading dietary supplement manufacturers in North America offering the Nature Made(R) and Nature’s Resource(R) brands. For more than 30 years, Pharmavite has offered high-quality vitamins, minerals, herbs and other nutritional supplements that promote wellness and help maintain good health. Pharmavite was also an instrumental force in developing the supplement industry’s manufacturing standards recommended by the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP). Nature Made(R) and Nature’s Resource(R) brands are sold through mass merchant, drug, club and grocery store chains including K-Mart, Target, and Walgreens.

Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. is a diversified health sciences company dedicated to the research, development and commercialization of innovative nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products derived from nature. By extracting plant sterols from wood pulping by-products, Forbes is developing cholesterol-lowering agents to be used both as functional food ingredients and pharmaceutical therapeutics in the battle against heart disease. Forbes is also developing innovative fermentation technology that converts plant sterols into pharmaceutical fine chemicals, essential in the production of various pharmaceutical steroids such as contraceptive agents and anti-inflammatories. Phytrol(TM) is a registered trademark of Forbes Medi-Tech Inc.

(1) According to American Heart Association statistics.

(2) Jones et. al., 1999, Cholesterol-lowering efficiency of a sitostanol-containing phytosterol mixture with a prudent diet on hyperlipidemic men, Am J Clin Nutr; 69:1144-50

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Whole Living: Holds Essential Oils Tour in Japan


AMERICAN FORK, Utah, Oct. 11, Business Wire -- Whole Living, Inc., doing business as Brain Garden, announced a Japanese tour and subsequent release of three new essential oils.

Dana Young, one of Brain Garden’s resident oil experts will be traveling to Japan this weekend to hold special Brain Garden Essential Oil seminars.

"We released these three oils here in the US market at our National Convention in August," said Ron Williams, President of Whole Living, Inc. "These three oils, Algebra, Peace of Mind, and Spice Trader, have since outsold the rest of our oils, 2 to 1. We are very excited and see great potential with these oils in Japan as well."

Dana Young will be holding meetings in Nagano on Friday October 12th, Tokyo on Saturday October 13th, and in Nagoya and Osaka on Sunday October 14th.

"Sales for our oil diffusers have increased 500% over the last month," said Douglas Burdick, Executive Vice President of Whole Living, Inc. "Obviously, this is a good indicator that an increase in essential oil sales will soon follow. Whole Living also introduced an 8-oil kit at the National Convention held in August that is selling well."

Whole Living, Inc. is a premier whole-foods nutrition company in the direct-selling industry, with premium products reaching consumers throughout the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.


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