Cutting Through Pharmaceutical Media Spin

ANNAPOLIS, Md., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Looking at the headlines, you'd think the entire supplement industry was going south. Recent stories show Echinacea, Saw Palmetto, Vitamin E, D and Calcium, St. John's Wort, and now Glucosamine and Chondroitin lack the medicinal efficacy that numerous studies and millions of consumers and clinicians previously found they provided.

In reality, there is considerable good science showing that natural remedies are highly effective -- often as effective or more so than medications -- but safer and less expensive. "However, the big money that drug companies charge for medications and pay for marketing influences how study results are presented," observes board certified internist Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, a pain specialist who incorporates both prescription drugs and natural remedies in his practice. Dr. Teitelbaum (http://www.vitality101.com/) is author of the best-seller From Fatigued to Fantastic! (Penguin Putnam) and newly released Pain Free 1-2-3 (McGraw-Hill, April 2006).

"Following publication of the recent study on Glucosamine and Chondroitin in the New England Journal of Medicine (Feb 23, 2006), news headlines screamed, 'Natural Therapies Ineffective.' But the study," says Teitelbaum, "actually revealed something quite different: Natural remedies were far more effective than Celebrex for moderate to severe arthritis. For mild arthritis, the difference between placebo, Celebrex and natural remedies was minimal." According to Dr. Teitelbaum, the data showed the following breakdown, with price-tags omitted:

  For moderate to severe arthritis
  A-Placebo                 54% improved at no cost per patient over 1 year
  B-GS/Chondroitin
   (Natural)                79% improved, $165/patient over 1 year(1)
  C-Celebrex                69% improved, $1200/patient over 1 year(2)

  For mild arthritis
  A-Placebo                 62% improved at no cost per patient over 1 year
  B-Chondroitin             66.5% improved, $166/patient over 1 year(3)
  C-Celebrex/COX2           70% improved, $1200/patient over 1 year

More accurate headlines would read: 'Placebo almost as effective as Celebrex and natural remedies -- Natural remedies best for severe arthritis,' and 'Celebrex nearly 700% more costly than natural remedies,' comments Dr. Teitelbaum.

If pharmaceuticals and natural remedies were almost equally effective, why not use the meds? Two reasons come to mind, says Teitelbaum: "First, we are bankrupting the medical system because doctors are trained to use the most expensive medications (don't forget that drug companies underwrite most of our conferences!). Second, deaths from medications are astronomical. Motrin family medications (NSAIDs) for arthritis kill 16,500 Americans yearly, and Celebrex/Vioxx, many more."

"If you actually look at the scientific data, natural remedies are a safe and inexpensive Godsend," Teitelbaum concludes. "As the old saying goes, Buyer Beware! If you don't scrutinize the study yourself, the truth is likely to be colored by spin. In the Glucosamine research, eleven of the authors had financial ties to companies manufacturing pain medications. Clearly, natural remedies are competition."

Dr. Teitelbaum, Director of the Center for Effective CFIDS/Fibromyalgia Therapies, does not accept money from pharmaceutical or supplement companies.

  (1) iHerb.com combined formula $.23/tablet 750mg Glucosamine/600mg
      Chondroitin
  (2) Longs Drugs $3.29/200mg
  (3) iHerb.com $.15/400mg