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Category: Alternative Medicine
Drug Hunters Can’t See Rainforest For The Medicines
TORTUGUERO NATIONAL PARK, Costa Rica – Carlos Bettancurt cuts the motor and we glide soundlessly toward the bank of the Parismina lagoon, part of the vast network of rivers and canals that crisscross this wildlife sanctuary. Doused liberally with DEET to ward off mosquitoes and swathed in hats, longsleeved shirts and pants, we step ashore…
The Saga Of Soy
Consumers Believe Soy Is Good Food, And Research Shows They’re Partly Right. Americans have fallen in love with the humble soybean. Convinced that in its many incarnations – tofu, soy milk, dietary supplements – soy can prevent everything from heart disease to hot flashes to cancer, consumers have sent soysales soaring. In the 12 months ending in October 1999, supermarket sales of soy foods…
The saga of soy. That soy is good is partly right
Consumers Believe Soy Is Good Food, And Research Shows They’re Partly Right. Americans have fallen in love with the humble soybean. Convinced that in its many incarnations – tofu, soy milk, dietary supplements – soy can prevent everything from heart disease to hot flashes to cancer, consumers have sent soy sales soaring. In the 12…
FDA loosens reins
The US Food and Drug Administration once had the power to force manufacturers of over-the-counter dietary supplements, including herbal remedies, to prove those products were safe, if the agency felt such a pre-market review was warranted. That changed in 1994, when Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which gives sellers of vitamins…
Go the medical route if herb doesn’t relieve depression
So, you’re depressed. Given that the Globe’s analysis showed that, at least in lab tests, there is considerable variation among St. John’s wort brands, should you take it at all? Buying any herbal remedy is basically a crapshoot. But the short answer is that if you try a brand of St. John’s wort and it…
How the Globe did its testing
Here’s how we tested some of the leading brands of St. John’s wort, the popular herbal antidepressant. We went to a CVS store in Cambridge, Mass., and bought the following products: CVS’ house brand; Natrol; NatureMade; Nature’s Resource; Quanterra; and YourLife. In addition, we obtained a bottle of Herbalife, which is sold privately through distributors….
St. John’s Wort: Less Than Meets The Eye
Globe Analysis Shows Popular Herbal Antidepressant Varies Widely In Content, Quality. We thought it would be easy. After all, we had just two seemingly simple questions: Does St. John’s wort, the popular herbal adtidepressant on which Americans spend $250 million a year, work – at least on rat brain cells in a test tube? And…
Trendy pill should be taken with a grain of salt
She’s a young woman from the South Shore, finally able both to work and to study for an advanced degree. But for years, she’s been plagued by severe depression that stems, she says, from physical abuse she suffered as a child, and from sexual abuse when she was 17. She tried Prozac and, by her…
Herbal prostate drug goes mainstream
The gradual enlargement of the prostate gland with age is “the most common benign disease of mankind,” says Dr. Kevin R. Loughlin, director of urologic research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. And while many men now try to treat it with herbal remedies, many still prefer the traditional therapies, for which there are…
Meditating helps, but how is a mystery
The idea of standing stark naked in a little booth soaking up UV light three times a week doesn’t seem all that bad as medical treatments go, especially since it can help ameliorate psoriasis, an itchy, scaly, disfiguring skin disease. But many people do find the experience stressful, which is why meditation guru Jon Kabat-Zinn…
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