The War on Supplements

First it was Echinacea. Then it was Saw Palmetto. Then it was Glucosamine-Chondroitin compound. Now it is Melatonin.

In less than a year, the efficacy of four dietary supplements that had previously been shown in solid research to replace, or delay the need for, expensive and dangerous pharmaceuticals have been called into question by recent studies.

Not since L-Tryptophan was pulled from the market over a decade ago have I seen such an assault on alternative medicine, albeit this one is subtle.

The thing is, I have seen previous studies and poured over the design matrix and examined data. (Disclaimer: I cannot say the same about the four recent studies. It is a time thing.) I believe the previous research, which I have studied in depth, to be sound. I have used Echinacea and avoided antibiotics for respiratory infections. My husband takes Saw Palmetto and has a PSA score of under 1.0 and on exam the healthiest prostate our primary are provider has observed on a man over 50. I take Glucosmine-Chondroitin, and MRI’s have shown a regeneration of cartilage in my left knee. (Not so on the right side, but one out of two ain’t bad when we are talking about delaying total joint replacement surgery by any appreciable length of time on a patient under 45 years of age.) I work nights, and opt for Melatonin over pharmaceutical sleep aids when I have trouble drifting off in the morning.

Empirically, in my own experience, I am inclined to believe that these alternatives have some therapeutic value, without the undesirable side effects of their pharmaceutical counterparts. And I really don’t care if the positive results are placebo effect. Positive is positive no matter how it is arrived at.

But here is the thing…I just can’t make myself buy any of these studies right now. Not in an age of science-for-sale, and not during an administration that is so friendly to big pharma that Medicare is prohibited by law from negotiating for the best prices when the government purchases medicines, and not when we have the boondoggle of the Medicare Drug Plan that is so uber-friendly to the pharmaceutical industry and denies the recipients much-needed medications.

Call it women’s intuition. Call it paranoia. Call it whatever you want, but I don’t believe these single studies, conducted here in America and not where alternatives are more widely used, that question alternatives to expensive pharmaceutical compounds. It is just too convenient.

No, I think I will wait for the next wave of research, preferably conducted in Europe, before I consider abandoning alternatives with minimal side effects; versus the chemical stew that is peddled daily throughout the land by doctors beholden to the pharmaceutical industry as the only option(s) available to alleviate symptoms and suffering.