Glenn Ellis' Homeopathic Health Blog

Like many of you, I too, have been confused by the reports published over the last year, by several prominent medical journals, asserting that some of the popular herbal supplements that many people (including myself) have used for years to address some common health issues are not effective.

Among the herbs cited as “ineffective” are, Black Cohosh, used for menopausal symptoms; Echinacea, used for the immune system; and Glucosamine Sulfate, used for arthritis and joint issues.

As a responsible herbalist and homeopath for over twenty years, supporting clients, and their doctors, in a variety of health issues, I have anecdotal evidence, supporting the “healing power” of each of these for their respective purported purposes. I can think of several specific cases where Glucosamine Sulfate helped arthritis sufferers resume a quality of life that was once lost to joint pain and stiffness. I also recall the 87 year old woman in great pain from a viral induced infection of Shingles. I remember her offering me her monthly Social Security check (which I refused) in gratitude for my suggestion that she try Echinacea.

In the case of the Echinacea study, many herbalist and critics assail the fact that the study was done on a group of healthy college sophomores, given a rhinovirus. Any healthy 19 or 20 year old has a strong immune system. What would the results of the study have shown if the elderly, children, and those with compromised immune systems were included? It is known that the immune system's ability to fight infection and foreign invaders diminishes as we age, so it seems reasonable that “older” immune systems would demonstrate support from Echinacea much better than the immune system of a young adult whose immune system is at its peak of development.

Similar concerns exist in the studies with the other herbs. In the case of Black Cohosh, the results pale in light of the fact that it is used as an effective alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by medical doctors. Others cite the low dosage used in the Glucosamine study. The study results published in The New England Journal of
Medicine (NEJM) reported dosages of 900mg/daily of the powdered root of Echinacea. Yet, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Canadian Natural Health Products Directorate both suggest effective dosage to be closer to 3,000mg of the herb when taken in this form. This comes closer to my experience. This dosage level is about 330% higher than the dosage of the Echinacea preparations given in the NEJM trial. In addition, the study made a blanket conclusion in its published results about Glucosamine Sulfate. Yet, many studies and reports show that used in mild-to-moderate conditions, Glucosamine Sulfate provides relief from arthritis and other joint pain.

Remember Halcion? Thalidomide? Vioxx? Fen-Phen? All of these are drugs which were approved and introduced to the market with rave reviews, only to be subjects of recalls after a short time on the market. In each of these cases, thousands of people incurred serious, and in some cases fatal, results.

Many drugs that have come on the market in past years have done so despite the opinion of the FDA Medical Officer reviewing the drug that the drug should not have been approved.

In the wake of the many “flip-flops” of reports published in medical journals, should the reports on these and other natural supplements be taken as the final word on practices, that in many cases have stood the test of time? With the obvious flaws and questions about methodology and suspicions about motives, I always believe it is best to balance these type of findings WITH the anecdotal evidence, being keenly aware of signs of harmful effects from using any natural supplement and make an informed decision for yourself on whether it is right for you. How are we to view findings published in traditionally prestigious medical journals? Is this the early stages of an all out battle by Big Pharma against the Vitamin and Herb industry? Or is this good science in the face of centuries of anecdotal and folk remedies? In a mind boggling article published by The Journal of the American Medical Association in July, 2000 the research finally admits to mainstream America that 100,000 Americans per year die, due to medical errors. 226,000 to 287,000 deaths every year directly caused by the medical/pharmaceutical industry. Only 1,369 cases in one year that required hospitalization related to food supplements. But, 2,200,000 cases every single year that require hospitalization from correctly prescribed pharmaceutical medications. Only 46 deaths a year (during a four-year study in 2000) were recorded which may possibly have been related to dietary supplements.

From the above statistics, you run a risk of one chance in 125 that you will be hospitalized from your correctly-prescribed pharmaceutical medication, but only a risk of one chance in 200,964 of an adverse reaction to an herbal food supplement. That means that prescription medications with FDA supervision are 1,608 times more dangerous than food supplements without FDA supervision.

I am certainly not one to blindly turn his back on the advancements and many benefits of neither conventional medicine, nor the developments from the pharmaceutical industry.

But, I always follow my Grandpapa’s advice… Follow the money.