JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014 NEWS

January – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published "Gut Check: A Reference Guide for Media on Spotting False Weight Loss Claims." “…the FTC has compiled a list of seven statements in ads that experts say simply can’t be true. If you spot one of these claims in an ad a marketer wants to run in your media outlet, it’s likely to be a tip-off to deception.” The claims are:

  • causes weight loss of two pounds or more a week for a month or more without dieting or exercise;

  • causes substantial weight loss no matter what or how much the consumer eats;

  • causes permanent weight loss even after the consumer stops using product;

  • blocks the absorption of fat or calories to enable consumers to lose substantial weight;

  • safely enables consumers to lose more than three pounds per week for more than four weeks;

  • causes substantial weight loss for all users; or

  • causes substantial weight loss by wearing a product on the body or rubbing it into the skin

January – A meta-analysis has concluded that ginger “is an effective treatment for NVEP” (nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy) (Thomson et al. (2014) J. Am. Board Fam. Med. 27, 115-122 Paper).

January – C. Seher published an Article entitled “Spilling the Beans – Can Green Coffee Extract Lead to Weight Loss?” (Today’s Dietitian 16(1), 58 (2014)). The product, featured on the Dr. Oz show, is supported only by weak evidence with “major methodological concerns.”

January 1 – A trial found that vitamin E appears to slow the functional decline in Alzheimer disease (Dysken et al., JAMA 311, 33-44 (2014) Paper) News story. An editorial First page by Evans, Morris, and Rajan (29-30) discusses the findings.

January 2 – Vaughan, Conn, and Mermier reviewed “Effects of Commercially Available Dietary Supplements on Resting Energy Expenditure” (ISRN Nutrition 2014, 650264 (2014) Paper). The products, promoting thermogenesis, are marketed for weight loss. The authors concluded, “Currently, there is some evidence suggesting dietary products containing select ingredients can increase energy expenditure in healthy young people immediately following consumption (within 6 hours). It is unclear if supplement-induced increases in metabolic rate provide additional benefit beyond that provided by dietary constituents that contain similar ingredients. It is also unclear if dietary supplements are effective for weight loss in humans.”

January 6 – Formation of the Society for Science-Based Medicine was announced. The mission “includes, but is not limited to,

  • Educating consumers, professionals, business people, legislators, law enforcement personnel, organizations and agencies about Science-Based Medicine.

  • Providing resources and information for information concerning all aspects of Science-Based Medicine. Providing a central resource for communication between individuals and organizations concerned about Science-Based Medicine.

  • Supporting sound consumer health laws for the practice of Science-Based Medicine and opposing legislation that undermines Science-Based Medicine.

  • Encouraging and aiding legal actions in support of the practice of Science-Based Medicine.”

January 7 – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action against two companies, GeneLink and its former subsidiary foru International, for deceptive advertising Press release Consumer information. The companies claimed, without supporting evidence, that “based on DNA obtained through a customer’s cheek swab, their customized nutritional supplements could compensate for that individual’s genetic disadvantages and that their customized skin repair serum was scientifically proven to work.”

January 11 – Traboulsee and others tested the idea that chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency is prevalent in patients with multiple sclerosis (Lancet 383, 138-145 (2014) Abstract). This idea is the basis of the Zamboni “liberation” treatment. The authors found that the condition is rare and is no more common in multiple sclerosis patients than in unaffected individuals. A commentary by Paul and Wattjes (pp. 106-108) states that the paper “sounds a death knell for the hypothesis of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as a disease entity.”

January 15 – Mathon and others (Food Addit. Contam. Part A Chem. Anal. Control Expo. Risk Assess. 31, 15-20 (2014) Abstract) analyzed 52 weight loss supplements obtained through the Internet. Half of them were adulterated with sibutramine, a drug that has been withdrawn because of its dangerous side effects.

January 15 – According to D’Adamo’s Blood Type Diet, different diets are preferable (in terms of reducing risk of cardiovascular disease) for individuals with different ABO blood types. Wang and others tested this by comparing adherence to various diets, cardiovascular risk factors, and blood types (PLoS One 9, e84749 (2014) Paper). They found that while certain diets were preferable for the risk factors, there was no relation to the blood type of the individual. A Column by A. Reshanov discusses the findings.

January 23 – A Cochrane Collaboration Review on acupuncture for smoking cessation concluded that “For acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture, there was weak evidence of a small short-term benefit but not of any long-term benefit. Acupuncture was less effective than nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and not shown to be better than counselling…The review did not find consistent evidence that active acupuncture or related techniques increased the number of people who could successfully quit smoking…They are likely to be less effective than current evidence-based interventions.”

January 27 – An Article by M. Dribben has criticized televised claims of Dr. Oz. Among the subjects address in the article are arsenic levels in apple juice and green coffee for weight loss.

January 29 – Antioxidants are often taken as supplements in order to prevent or treat cancer. A study by Sayin and others (Sci. Transl. Med. 6, 221ra15 (2014) Abstract) has shown that this might be unwise. In mouse models of lung cancer, antioxidant supplements actually increased the progression of the cancer. As noted in a story by J. Kaiser (Science 343, 477 (2014) Summary). “The implication…is that people at high risk of cancer – such as smokers – and others who have incipient tumors should avoid taking extra antioxidants.”

February – Soare and others conducted a trial of several popular dietary supplements (Aging 6, 149-157 (2014) Paper). Subjects took a combination of the following supplements: resveratrol, tea extracts, pomegranate extract, quercetin, acetyl carnitine, lipoic acid, curcumin, sesamin, cinnamon bark extract, and fish oil). There were no cardiovascular or metabolic benefits from the supplements.

February – Christen and others studied the effects of multivitamin supplements on the development of cataracts. The study was for 11 years and included more than 14,000 physicians (Ophthalmology 121, 525-534 (2014) Abstract). The results “indicated that long-term daily multivitamin use modestly and significantly decreased the risk of cataract but had no significant effect on visually significant AMD” (age-related macular degeneration).

February – Glucomannan is a soluble fiber from konjac root that has been marketed for weight loss. A review and meta-analysis of randomized trials (Onakpoya et al., J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 33, 70-78 (2014) Abstract) concluded that the available evidence does not support a significant effect of glucomannan on weight loss.

February – Two papers dealt with possible benefits of tai chi and qigong. Ding and others reviewed studies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (J. Altern. Complement. Med. 20, 79-86 (2014) Abstract) and concluded that the approaches might be beneficial; however, “caution is needed to draw a firm conclusion because of the low methodological quality of the included trials.” Zeng and colleagues reviewed studies concerning cancer patients (Complement. Ther. Med. 22, 173-186 (2014) Paper). The results indicated that “qigong/tai chi had positive effects on the cancer-specific QOL [quality of life], fatigue, immune function and cortisol level of cancer patients. However, these findings need to be interpreted cautiously due to the limited number of studies identified and high risk of bias in included trials.”

February – Otaegui-Arrazola and others reviewed the evidence concerning diet and nutrients and Alzheimer’s disease (Eur. J. Nutr. 53, 1-23 (2014) Abstract). They concluded that while “data from observational studies point to a protective role for certain nutrients,” “data from randomized controlled trials do not show a consistent effect.”

February – A review of phytoestrogens in postmenopause (Poluzzi et al., Curr. Med. Chem. 21, 417-436 (2014) Paper) concluded that “appealing evidence is still lacking to support the overall positive risk-benefit profile of phytoestrogens.” The authors recommend that “phytoestrogens should be considered only as second-line treatment in post-menopausal women that inadequately respond or do not tolerate to conventional pharmacological therapy.”

February 5 - High oral doses of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) were long ago discredited as a treatment for cancer (see this analysis in Quackwatch). However, it is possible to achieve much higher levels in the blood with intravenous administration. A small preliminary study (Ma et al., Sci. Transl. Med. 6, 222ra18 (2014) Abstract) gave results that have been claimed to indicate the promise of this approach. However, an analysis by D. Gorski in Science-Based Medicine was highly critical. The study was small, not properly blinded, had a high dropout rate, and gave no difference in overall survival rate. “In other words, this was probably a negative study.”

February 5 - A News & Perspectives piece by M. Mitka was entitled “Emerging Data Continue to Find Lack of Benefit for Vitamin-Mineral Supplement Use” (JAMA 311, 454-455 (2014) First page). Mitka discusses two studies, a review, and an editorial published in Annals of Internal Medicine in December (see our November/December 2013 News), as well as earlier studies showing potential harm from antioxidant and calcium supplements.

February 20 - A Cochrane Collaboration Review on echinacea for the common cold concluded that “Echinacea products have not here been shown to provide benefits for treating colds, although, it is possible there is a weak benefit from some Echinacea products: the results of individual prophylaxis trials consistently show positive (if non-significant) trends, although potential effects are of questionable clinical relevance.”