In the News
Reproductive or Thyroid Hormones and Menstrual Cycle Not Influenced by S-equol Supplement Designed to Manage Menopause Symptoms
Thorne Research Introduces a New Product, NiaCel, Featuring NIAGEN, To Support Healthy Aging
Hevert Partners with NCNM, Grants $495,000 Award
High-risk opioid users have medical costs three times higher than other opioid users
New Textbook on the Consumption of Sugar/Fructose Offers a Unique Nutrition
Emerson Ecologics Affirms Its Commitment To Quality
Reproductive or Thyroid Hormones and Menstrual Cycle Not Influenced by S-equol Supplement Designed to Manage Menopause Symptoms
A daily dose of S-equol (13.1 mg), delivered via a fermented soy germ-based nutritional supplement to manage menopause symptoms, showed no impact on reproductive or thyroid hormones or the menstrual cycles of premenopausal women, according to a peer-reviewed study reported in a poster at the Academy of Women's Health 2014 annual meeting in Washington, DC.
Previous controlled clinical trials documented that daily doses of the supplement containing S-equol, a metabolite of the soy isoflavone daidzein, relieved menopausal symptoms, specifically hot flash frequency and muscle discomfort, in both US and Japanese postmenopausal women.
"These data demonstrate that in premenopausal women, use of this supplement does not impact levels of specific endocrine hormones. Furthermore, the S-equol supplement does not impact menstrual cycles of premenopausal women which helps to confirm and expand what we know about safety of the S-equol supplement from previous studies," said coauthor Belinda H. Jenks, PhD, Director of Scientific Affairs & Nutrition Education at Pharmavite LLC, the makers of Nature Made vitamins and minerals and a subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which supported the study.
S-equol has the ability to bind to the same estrogen receptors as naturally occurring estrogen, with a strong affinity to the estrogen receptor beta. On binding to the receptor, S-equol mimics some, but not all, activities of estrogen. Because of these actions at the receptor, it has been proposed that S-equol may alleviate some menopause symptoms caused by diminished estrogen production.
No Impact from S-equol Supplements on Reproductive or Thyroid Hormone Levels and Menstrual Cycle in Premenopausal Women
During the treatment period and post-treatment period, each of which was lasted for one menstrual cycle in each subject, a dose of a supplement containing 13.1 milligrams (mg) S-equol daily did not significantly alter the levels of five reproductive and three thyroid hormones from pre-treatment values, which remained within the normal range and did not differ from levels in women receiving a placebo in a study of 35 Japanese women aged 20 to 38 years. Moreover, neither the supplement nor the placebo affected the length of the women's menstrual cycles, which averaged 28.4 to 30.0 days, p=0.430 for the difference between groups and p=0.921 for the differences in the three cycle phase measures.
Specifically, the women receiving the supplement did not differ from the 18 women receiving the placebo in delta changes of the levels of luteinizing hormone (treatment minus pre-treatment: p=0.260 and post-treatment minus pre-treatment: p=0.486), follicle stimulating hormone (p=0.322 and p=0.456), estradiol (p=0.712 and p=0.703), progesterone (p=0.085 and p=0.462) and testosterone (p=0.720 and p=0.764). Additionally, the two groups did not differ in measures for levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (p=0.082 and p=0.111), free T3 (a form of triiodothyronine) (p=0.197 and p=0.416) and free T4 (a form of thyroxine), (p=0.223 and p=0.724).
Investigators took blood samples from each woman during the early follicular phase, about three to five days after onset of the period, the late follicular phase, about 10 to 13 days after onset of the period, and the luteal phase, about seven to 10 days after ovulation. The investigators repeated these blood samples during the course of three sequential cycles. During the first and last cycles, the women did not take any treatment, while during the middle cycle; the women received either the supplement or a placebo based on random assignment to a treatment group. This treatment lasted approximately four weeks, depending on the duration of the women's individual cycles.
Only women who had regular menstrual cycles, 28 to 35 days, were accepted and enrolled and of these, 12 were natural equol producers after soy consumption. All of the women self-checked their ovulation cycles using commercial urine tests.
SOURCE Pharmavite LLC
Thorne Research Introduces a New Product, NiaCel, Featuring NIAGEN, To Support Healthy Aging
Thorne Research today announced the launch of NiaCel, an innovative nutritional supplement that supports endurance, energy, and healthy aging. NiaCel is one of the first commercially available products to feature the ingredient NIAGEN from ChromaDex Corp. (OTCQB: CDXC), an innovative natural products company that provides proprietary ingredients and science-based solutions to the dietary supplement, food and beverage, animal health, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries.
ChromaDex developed its breakthrough patent-protected ingredient NIAGEN as the first and only commercially available brand of nicotinamide riboside (NR). NR, the active ingredient in NiaCel, boosts levels of NAD+ in cells and tissue. Studies have demonstrated that increasing the levels of NAD+ can support healthy aging by stimulating mitochondrial energy production, as well as by activating sirtuin function.
Paul Jacobson, the CEO of Thorne Research, stated, "We are very excited to offer NIAGEN nicotinamide riboside to our practitioner network through this new, exclusive product launch. NiaCel provides practitioners with a powerful new solution to promote healthy aging in patients. NIAGEN is one of the most innovative new ingredients developed in the past decade. We are thrilled to partner together with ChromaDex and our practitioner-customer base to enhance patient health with the introduction of NiaCel."
Frank Jaksch, ChromaDex founder and CEO, stated, "NiaCel is truly a groundbreaking product. We are pleased to have Thorne Research feature NIAGEN, our branded nicotinamide riboside, in such a prominent product launch."
SOURCE ChromaDex Corp
Hevert Partners with NCNM, Grants $495,000 Award
Five-Year Pledge to Support Residencies, Homeopathic Curriculum and Clinics
PORTLAND, Ore. (Mar. 27, 2014):
In a major show of support for the advancement of homeopathic medicine in the United States, Hevert Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has partnered with the National College of Natural Medicine, pledging its support with a gift of $495,000 that will help provide funding for groundbreaking new college programs through August 2018. The donation will underwrite several key initiatives developed jointly by Hevert and NCNM, including The Hevert Naturopathic Residency Program, The Hevert Homeopathic Symposium, the development of an accredited Master of Science in Homeopathy Degree, The Hevert Starter Medicinary Program, and The Hevert Collection. The grant also includes an in-kind gift of Hevert products to NCNM's community clinics.
Hevert Pharmaceuticals, one of the world's leading manufacturers of homeopathic medicines, is dedicated to naturopathy and the development of high-quality natural medicine. Founded in Germany in 1956 by pharmacist Emil Hevert, Hevert Pharmaceuticals is an independent, family-owned company run today by Mathias Hevert, its third-generation president. In addition to its manufacturing excellence, the company is strongly committed to environmental protection, sustainable business practices and responsibility for its employees and community.
HevertUSA President and CEO Wolf Aulenbacher introduced the new partnership by saying:
“It is especially gratifying to me to be able to bring Hevert and NCNM together, not only professionally as HevertUSA CEO, but personally, as someone who has spent his lifetime working with naturopathy and homeopathy. Hevert’s goal is to preserve the rich legacy of naturopathic pioneer Pastor Emanuel Felke and bring our safe, naturally effective homeopathic medicines to the U.S. We are honored to be in the position to support the many uniquely deserving programs that NCNM brings to the natural health care community and public, and welcome the opportunity to contribute toward the ongoing education, continued advancement and, ultimately, increased adoption of homeopathy in the United States.”
Although naturopathic medicine is now licensed in 17 states, the District of Columbia, two U.S. territories, and recognized by the Affordable Care Act, Hevert and NCNM share in the belief that there is still much work to be done to broaden the reach and influence of naturopathy and homeopathy in the U.S. and bring them the recognition they deserve. To this end, Hevert is extremely honored to be joining NCNM in bringing these landscape-altering initiatives to the medical community and public, and looks forward to a long and productive association with its new partner.
For additional program details and information on Hevert Pharmaceuticals, please visit www.hevertusa.com.
For more on NCNM, please go to www.ncnm.edu.
ABOUT HEVERT
Hevert Pharmaceuticals is dedicated to naturopathy and the development of natural medicines. An independent, family-owned company founded in Germany in 1956 and run by Mathias Hevert, its third-generation president, Hevert is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of homeopathic and herbal medicines, as well as high-dose vitamin preparations. The company's extensive product portfolio includes medicines for virtually every treatment area relevant to natural medicine.
ABOUT NCNM
Founded in Portland in 1956, NCNM is the oldest naturopathic medical school in North America and an educational leader in classical Chinese medicine and CAM research. NCNM offers three accredited four-year graduate medical degree programs in naturopathic and classical Chinese medicine, as well as Master of Science degrees in Integrative Medicine Research and Nutrition. Its community clinics provide low-cost medical care throughout the Portland metropolitan area. In addition to the campus-based NCNM Clinic, NCNM practitioners attend to approximately 40,000 patient visits per year.
High-risk opioid users have medical costs three times higher than other opioid users
People who are at high risk for opioid abuse use had significantly higher total medical costs ($19,513 vs. $5,493) than those who were not at high risk, according to a new study by Prime Therapeutics (Prime). The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) defines high risk as "using a daily morphine equivalent dose (MED) of greater than 120 mg for at least 90 consecutive days, plus using more than three pharmacies and more than three unique prescribers." Prime, a leading pharmacy benefit manager, will be presenting these findings at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's 26th Annual Meeting & Expo in Tampa, Florida.
During the first half of 2013, Prime reviewed opioid claims from more than 9 million commercially insured members. The research found nearly 1.2 million (13.1 percent) had at least one opioid claim. While 11,518 (0.13 percent) met the MED threshold, just 225 (0.0025 percent) met all three CMS high risk criteria. The number of commercially insured members considered high risk for prescription opioid abuse was five times lower than the rate among Medicare Part D members.
Those meeting all three criteria did not have significantly different pharmacy costs. Prime's study excluded members being treated for cancer as CMS does in its analysis.
The average age for members meeting all criteria was 43. Arthritis and back, neck, and abdominal pain were among the most common pain diagnoses in this group. Anxiety, bipolar disorder, and depression were more common than in the group that just met the MED criteria.
"Nationally, as many as 2 million people a year use opioids for non-medical purposes, and identifying high-risk indicators can help prevent abuse and misuse of these medications," said Pat Gleason, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP, director of health outcomes for Prime.
Source: Prime Therapeutics LLC, primetherapeutics.com
New Textbook on the Consumption of Sugar/Fructose Offers a Unique Nutrition
A new textbook, Fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sucrose and Health, published this month by Springer Press, under their Humana Press imprint, provides one of the most comprehensive scientific analyses on the closely-watched issue of caloric sweetener consumption. It represents the most up-to-date review of relevant scientific data that seeks to provide facts and dispel myths for audiences that often receive conflicting information about sugar/fructose consumption.
Chapters in the book discuss the effects of both nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners on appetite and food consumption, as well as the physiologic and neurologic responses to sweetness. Chapter authors are world class, practice and research oriented nutrition authorities. They provide practical, data-driven resources based upon the totality of the evidence to help the reader understand the basics of fructose, high fructose corn syrup and sucrose biochemistry. The textbook also examines the short-term and long-term consequences of consuming these sweeteners in the diets of young children through to adolescence and adulthood.
"The issue of sugar and fructose consumption is one of the more prominent health issues currently being debated and there is quite a bit of misinformation and hyperbole in this issue," said the textbook's editor, James M. Rippe, MD, Founder and Director of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute and Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Central Florida. "We were fortunate to get some of the best minds in the field of nutritional science to provide unvarnished, scientific facts about this issue in hopes of providing greater public understanding and a strong foundation for future scientific research in this field."
Some chapter highlights include:
- "Added Sugars and Health" by John L. Sievenpiper, MD, PhD, McMaster University : "Concerns raised by fructose's unique biochemistry and the ecological and animal studies linking added fructose to various diseases have not been supported by higher level evidence. Evidence from prospective cohort studies and controlled feeding trials when taken together has not shown convincing evidence of harm of added fructose-containing sugars over and above that of other carbohydrate sources of energy in the diet."
- "Are Sugars Addictive?" by Rebecca L. Corwin, PhD, RD, Pennsylvania State University and John E. Hayes, PhD, Pennsylvania State University: "We and others have argued against the idea that food addiction is widespread and functions as a driving force behind the current obesity epidemic. Even the idea that a small segment of the population, such as those with Bulimia Nervosa or a subpopulation of those with Binge Eating Disorder, is addicted to food is questionable and should be approached with caution."
- "Sweeteners and the Brain" by Athylia Paremski and Miguel Alonso-Alonso, MD, MPhil, Harvard Medical School: "Cognition can influence food intake at multiple stages. High-level cognitive inputs, such as the sight of a word, can modulate the activity of brain regions that are involved in processing sensory characteristics of a particular food, such as taste and smell, and the resulting reward value. There is also data suggesting that cognitive suppression of hunger and craving elicited by cues of palatable food engages the activity of a distributed brain network comprising lateral and dorsomedial parts of the prefrontal cortex. Additionally, it is well-known that branding can have a profound impact in the way a food product is perceived, specifically in the case of a sweetened beverage."
- "Non-Nutritive Sweeteners" by John D. Fernstrom, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine: "The influence of non-nutritive sweeteners on incretion secretion and action is still an unfinished area of investigation, but human studies in which NNS are covertly added to the diet for as long as 18 months, uniformly show that chronic NNS ingestion does not stimulate food intake or cause weight gain."
- "Sweeteners and Diabetes" by Adrian I. Cozma, HBSC, University of Toronto; Vanessa Ha, MS; Viranda H. Jayalath, MS (candidate); Russell J. de Souza RD, ScD, McMaster University; and John L. Sievenpiper MD, PhD, McMaster University: "Much of the evidence cited in support for a role of sugars in the increasing prevalence of obesity is derived from weak animal and ecological studies that establish associations, but not cause and effect relationships… the current evidence fails to show a clear link with, or between, sucrose and fructose and the increasing incidence of diabetes.
If you wish to learn more about Fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sucrose and Health, please visit Springer.com.
SOURCE Rippe Lifestyle Institute
Emerson Ecologics Affirms Its Commitment To Quality
Emerson Ecologics, LLC, the leading distributor of over 275 professional brands of vitamins, supplements and natural health products to healthcare practitioners, announced today that they are raising the bar in their Emerson Quality Program(SM) (EQP). The key change to the program includes a revised assessment of every brand distributed by Emerson in order to demonstrate present compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). This assessment of all distributed brands assures that all dietary supplement products that practitioners select for their patients come from brands that adhere to the standards set forth by Emerson Ecologics, based on federal regulations regarding the manufacture of dietary supplements.
"By requiring all of the brands we carry to verify their compliance to current Good Manufacturing Practices," said Andy Greenawalt, CEO, "we reinforce our commitment to our customers as their preferred source of safe, trustworthy and clinically effective products, while allowing the increasing number of brands that go beyond required quality processes to share their practices with our professional customers. The industry has come a long way in the last four years and it was time to update our program to reflect this progress." As a result of this new requirement, some brands have been discontinued for failure to verify their compliance.
Additional changes to the Emerson Quality Program include elimination of the base EQP Partner level, further distinguishing the EQP Silver and EQP Gold Partners for going above and beyond the quality practices required by law. EQP Silver and EQP Gold Partners have all exceeded cGMP requirements, including the use of the most sensitive analytical testing methods for required ingredient and product testing and testing all at-risk materials for a full profile of contaminants and impurities. Emerson has also increased its own verification testing of finished products and will now include annual testing of multiple products for all EQP Silver and EQP Gold Partners. The verification activities of the EQP include an Emerson on-site audit for all EQP Silver and EQP Gold Partners.
SOURCE Emerson Ecologics, LLC