Monday, May 25, 2009

News Clipping Archives

 

Maryland / Regional

Baltimore has 3 cases of swine flu (Baltimore Sun)

Lyme disease risk peaking (Baltimore Sun)

Wristband monitors sunscreen needs (Baltimore Sun)

 

National / International

Feds say Detroit-area clinic paid people for bogus treatments; region gets more enforcement (Baltimore Sun)

Kidney stones in children on the rise (Baltimore Sun)

Here's what's in those weight-loss supplements (Baltimore Sun)

Case study: A soldier suffers health problems after using Hydroxycut (Baltimore Sun)

 

Opinion

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Maryland / Regional

 

Baltimore has 3 cases of swine flu

 

By John-John Williams

Baltimore Sun

Monday, May 25, 2009

 

Baltimore has its first three confirmed cases of H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, the city health department said Sunday.

 

All of the three people infected with the virus are adults, but not elderly, according to health officials. One of the people who fell ill is in a local hospital.

 

Health officials have released few details about the infected individuals, citing confidentiality.

 

The three cases are still under investigation, according to Dr. Anne Bailowitz, medical director for Environmental Health and Emergency Programs at the City Health Department.

 

To date, there have been 46 confirmed cases reported in Maryland, according to the health department. There have been no deaths resulting from the virus in the state.

 

"We continue to closely monitor these cases and the spread of H1N1 flu here in the city," Interim Commissioner Olivia Farrow said in a news release. "The outbreak of H1N1 in Maryland continues to involve generally mild symptoms similar to ordinary seasonal flu."

 

Initially, the virus caused widespread panic. But health officials now believe that cases have been mostly mild. Health officials have even backed off on closing schools at which students are sick.

 

In a statement, Mayor Sheila Dixon said: "I urge city residents to do their part to stop the spread of this illness by washing their hands frequently, practicing good cough hygiene and staying home if flu-like symptoms do develop."

 

Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun.

 

Lyme disease risk peaking

 

Expert advice

Baltimore Sun

Monday, May 25, 2009

 

Lyme disease, a highly preventable bacterial infection, strikes nearly 20,000 people a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The peak incidence of Lyme disease will occur from May through early October, so now is the time to guard against the tick bites that transmit the infection. Dr. Thomas F. Hattar, of the Annapolis Center for Integrative Medicine and Anne Arundel Medical Center, offers five things to know about Lyme disease going into the summer season:

 

•Lyme disease can usually be prevented by avoiding areas of tall grass and brush where ticks reside. When this isn't possible, wearing long pants with the legs tucked into socks and long-sleeve shirts tucked into your pants can help you avoid ticks attaching to your limbs. Spraying bug spray at the borders of your pants may also help.

 

•Because you have about 72 hours to detect ticks on your skin before Lyme disease is transmitted, you should check your skin carefully and routinely after exiting any areas that you suspect ticks may be present. If you find a tick, remove it as soon as possible. A tick that has not yet begun to ingest blood may only be the size of a pencil point, so inspect your skin carefully. •The most common symptoms of Lyme disease are fatigue, a low-grade fever, muscle aches, headache, neck stiffness, joint pain, enlarged lymph nodes, and at times, a skin rash. If you exhibit any of these symptoms, you should call your health care provider and schedule an examination.

 

•If you suspect you have contracted Lyme disease, you should seek medical advice for possible treatment. Your health care provider may order routine blood work as well as a Lyme disease test. Once confirmed, antibiotics are curative for Lyme disease more than 98 percent of the time.

 

•Late-stage Lyme disease is characterized by neurologic and heart involvement, including infection of the brain, paralysis of the facial muscles and sometimes even fatal heart arrhythmia. These can be treated by long-term, intravenous antibiotics and, sometimes, hospital admission will be required. Death can occur in some cases. For this reason, it is important to detect Lyme disease early.

 

Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun.

 

Wristband monitors sunscreen needs

 

By William Hageman

Baltimore Sun

Monday, May 25, 2009

 

It has happened to most of us: You get lost in the warmth of a summer day - at the beach, playing softball, biking or even just working in the garden - and before you know it you have a bad sunburn.

 

A new device, the UVSunSense wristband, should eliminate the problem. The wristband, used in conjunction with a reliable sunscreen, lets the wearer know when that sunscreen is no longer doing its job.

 

The wristband stands up to water - fresh, salt or chlorinated - and helps the wearer gauge how much UV radiation he or she has soaked up.

 

The technology behind the wristband is similar to that used in the monitoring devices that nuclear plant workers wear to measure levels of radiation exposure.

 

Fresh from the package, the wristbands are orange. When you apply your sunscreen (SPF 15 or higher), you also apply some to the band and it changes to blue/purple. When the blue/purple disappears and it turns brown, it's time for another application of sunscreen. And should it turn a yellow/orange/salmon, it's time to get out of the sun.

 

We thought we'd give the wristbands a spin. Our fair-skinned volunteer says she hates sunblock, starting with the time one has to wait before it kicks in.

 

"When I'm heading out the door on the next sunlit adventure, slapping on a coat of something gooey, then waiting for it to protect my skin ... really ruins the fun." Still, she has been using sunblock for about 30 years, so she was interested in giving the wristbands a couple of tests.

 

"The first one was on a day that promptly turned cloudy and the band barely turned blue.

 

"The second time was on a partly cloudy day of yard work. I snugged it on my wrist and put on an even coat of SPF50. Within 10 minutes the band was a smeary, then a more solid, blue - indicating it was activated. The sun came and went, I shoveled soil and mulch for seven hours and the band finally faded to its original peach color. I kept an eye out for the dangerous yellow-orange color, but it stopped at peach.

 

"The band was a good reminder to apply another coat, and I'd buy a pack for the days when I spend most of the day in the sun." She hasn't worn the bands in a hot summer's day's sun, so she's not certain how well they work, "but it's good to have a reminder." And, she adds, "Don't forget to wear a hat." The bands are manufactured by a New Jersey company, UVSunSense. They're available online at amazon.com, teebop.com and drugsdepot.com (prices range from $5.87 to $7.89 for a package of seven).

 

Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun.

 

National / International

 

Feds say Detroit-area clinic paid people for bogus treatments; region gets more enforcement

 

Associated Press

By Ed White

Baltimore Sun

Monday, May 25, 2009

 

DETROIT (AP) — Federal prosecutors say they are expecting guilty pleas in a case involving a clinic in a Detroit suburb that is accused of paying patients for phony or unnecessary treatments.

 

Investigators say Livonia Wellness Services in Livonia recruited people and then received more than $500,000 in Medicare reimbursements in just six months. The clinic has been closed.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney F. William Soisson (SOY'-sun) says three people have negotiated plea deals.

 

The FBI says Medicare has paid more than $10 million to Detroit-area clinics suspected of billing for services that weren't performed or weren't necessary.

 

The government is creating a strike force in Detroit with more investigators assigned to Medicare fraud.

 

Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun.

 

Kidney stones in children on the rise

The increase in pediatric patients is attributed to childhood obesity, poor diets and low calcium intake.

 

By Tammy Worth

Baltimore Sun

Monday, May 25, 2009

 

When pediatric urologist Barry Duel began practicing 11 years ago, it was rare to see a healthy child with kidney stones. These days, he sees two to three new children with stones a month.

 

Craig Langman, head of the department of kidney diseases at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, has 800 pediatric patients in his files with kidney stones. More than half of them are from the past five years.

 

The increase prompted Duel to create a pediatric stone center in October at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he works. Other new centers have been created as doctors across the country noted similar trends.

 

"We don't want to raise the alarm bells that we have an epidemic, but this is something we see and something to be aware of," Duel says.

 

Kidney stones are small, hard masses of mineral and acid salts that separate from the urine and solidify in the kidney. Most commonly, they are made of calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate, although other types exist.

 

Urine typically contains chemicals such as citrate, magnesium and pyrophosphate that prevent these crystals from forming. Stone patients can have low levels of these chemicals, causing stone formation. Stones can also form when a person is dehydrated, lacking the fluid to flush the minerals that form stones.

 

About 1 million Americans are treated each year for kidney stones, according to the National Kidney Foundation. They are most common in patients ages 20 to 40, and are more common in men than women.

 

Specialists know that kidney stones in children are caused by hereditary factors, obesity and dietary habits. Even as infants, children can get kidney stones, but the peak age at which they occur in kids is typically around 10, a statistic that hasn't changed.

 

Root causes

Most urologists believe that the rise in rates is linked to the increase in childhood obesity and poor diets.

 

* Obesity. High levels of glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol and insulin affect acidity of the urine. Studies at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas have shown that people with metabolic syndrome -- characterized by obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol -- are at an increased risk for kidney stones. High levels of insulin, in particular, correlate with higher urine acid levels, which can cause uric acid stones.

 

Langman says he has seen an increase in overweight patients with stones, especially in African American and Latino children. He says stones almost never occurred in these groups just a few years ago.

 

* Too much dietary sodium. Most stones are made of calcium, and an abundance of sodium causes the body to release more calcium into the urine. Physicians worry that sodium intake in children is on the rise because they are drinking more sodas, eating more often at restaurants and noshing on more convenience foods.

 

In a 2007 letter published in the journal Hypertension, pediatric nephrologists at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam used a database of urine samples to find if there was an increase in sodium intake by children in recent years. They found that pediatric patients ages 5 to 10 were getting more than 50% more sodium in 2005 compared with 1995.

 

A report published in 2001 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion found that 68% of children ages 7 to 9 were exceeding the maximum recommended sodium intake. This was probably because of an increase in consumption of salty snacks and fast food, the authors said.

 

* Lack of dietary calcium. This may seem counterintuitive because stones are made of calcium, but if children have a low calcium intake, it can cause their gastrointestinal tract to overabsorb the chemical oxalate, a component of stones.

 

Symptoms

Most adolescents with kidney stones experience persistent or recurrent stomach pain. This is sometimes accompanied by nausea, vomiting or back pain. The symptoms may come and go as the stone moves around.

 

In younger children, symptoms can mimic those of urinary tract infections, and sometimes there is blood in the urine. If there is an infection, children may have a fever.

 

Patients are typically diagnosed after a pediatrician takes a urine sample. But although stones are easily diagnosed, patients can sometimes be passed around between physicians before the problem is found because it is not on doctors' radar, Duel says.

 

About 30% of adults who have stones have a cause that can be treated to prevent them from recurring. In children, as many as 90% have a treatable cause, Langman says.

 

Most stones smaller than 6 millimeters will pass on their own and parents should make sure children are offered pain medication and drink lots of fluids while waiting. But surgery may be needed if the stones are too large, the pain is too intense, there are signs of infection or a child is vomiting excessively.

 

The predominant types of surgery are noninvasive, Duel says. They include breaking up the stones with external shock waves or passing a wire through the kidney and using a scope to locate the stones to be broken into smaller pieces.

 

Once the stones pass and children are treated, they may recur. In a 2006 study in the journal Pediatric Clinics of North America, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that stones recurred in 67% of children after about four years. And a 2007 study by the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Medical Center found that stones returned in about 39% of the patients.

 

Several measures can help decrease the likelihood of a stone recurring again. Drinking lots of fluids (mainly water) keeps chemicals such as calcium oxalate from reaching high concentrations in the urine. Drinking lemonade, which contains citrate, helps prevent calcium from crystallizing in the urine. Physicians also recommend reducing salt intake and ensuring children are getting their recommended calcium, which is 800 milligrams for children ages 4 to 8 and 1,300 milligrams for ages 9 to 18.

 

Medical treatments include the use of diuretics; Langman says he has had success prescribing Thiazide, a diuretic that blocks the kidney's excretion of calcium.

 

More information on kidney stones can be found on the National Kidney Foundation's website at www.kidney.org.

 

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times.

 

Here's what's in those weight-loss supplements

Weight-loss product labels don't always say exactly what's inside. Here are the most common ingredients.

 

By Melissa Healy

Baltimore Sun

Monday, May 25, 2009

 

The makers of natural weight-loss products use a wide range of plant and animal extracts, vitamins and minerals that they promise will speed metabolism, suppress appetite, make you feel full and convert fat into muscle. Some of these ingredients are sold individually, but the bestsellers of the weight-loss category are often diverse and constantly changing combinations touted as "proprietary formulations."

 

The labels rarely clarify the contents. Where details and dosages are provided at all, they are frequently presented as a bewildering mix of Latin plant names, trademarked monikers for a company's own mix of ingredients and, often, invented words that sound scientific but mean nothing to chemists or pharmacologists. Hydroxycut's "Hardcore," for instance, touts its "norepidrol intensity focus blend" as an aid to focus and attention. Another supplement, TheraStress, declares that its active compound of "adaptogens" helps fight weight gain brought on by stress.

 

For consumers seeking full disclosure, these labels may as well declare the product is made of genuine atoms.

 

The following are among those ingredients most frequently used in these formulas, along with what's known about their possible effects -- good and bad.

 

Caffeine

Seldom acknowledged on the labels of dietary supplements promoted for weight loss, caffeine is almost uniformly their key ingredient. Its sources are many and extremely varied: green tea extract (or Camellia sinensis), guarana, yerba maté and kola nut to name a few.

 

Consumer Lab's 2005 review of dietary supplements for weight loss measured caffeine levels in two popular weight-loss products still on the market -- Zantrex-3 ("The Ultimate Ephedra Replacement") and Xenadrine EFX. Zantrex-3 was found to have 1,223 milligrams of caffeine in a day's recommended dosage -- equivalent to 30 cans of cola. Xenadrine EFX was found to have less -- 448 milligrams -- but still 1 1/2 times the caffeine associated with adverse effects such as heart palpitations and sleep disruption.

 

In studies, high doses of caffeine have been shown to decrease appetite, but the effect doesn't last long. The chemical also acts as a diuretic, prompting the release of retained water, which leads to short-term weight loss.

 

"There is some evidence" that caffeine can contribute to temporary weight loss, says Barbara Corkey, an obesity researcher at Boston University who directs the Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center.

 

"What caffeine can do is stimulate lipolysis, the breakdown of lipids, and that should, in theory, have a beneficial effect. But in practice it's useless: The body is very smart about compensating for that. . . . so it's not a long-lasting, permanent effect."

 

Bitter orange

After the FDA banned the sale of ephedra and other products containing ephedrine in 2004, marketers of dietary supplements for weight loss widely proclaimed extracts from the peel of bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) "the next ephedra." They may have been more accurate than they intended.

 

Bitter orange (also called Seville orange and sour orange) is touted as an energy-enhancing fat burner, boosting the metabolism and exercise endurance, as was ephedrine. There is some evidence that, like ephedrine, it may cause slightly more weight loss than diet and exercise alone. Like ephedrine, it is frequently blended in formulations with large doses of caffeine.

 

And the active ingredients in bitter orange extract -- synephrine and octopamine -- are related to ephedrine. Synephrine was used in Europe for 30 years as a treatment for mild asthma. As a result, says State University of New York at Stony Brook microbiologist Dr. Arthur Grollman, a large body of evidence indicates that synephrine raises heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.

 

A small study by UC San Francisco researchers tested two products that contained bitter orange extracts -- Advantra Z and Xenadrine EFX -- on 10 healthy adults. Their findings, published in September 2005 in the American Journal of Medicine, found that single doses of both products boosted heart rates 11 to 16 beats per minute over normal baseline heart rates.

 

The NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine says there "have been reports of fainting, heart attack and stroke in healthy people after taking bitter orange supplements alone or combined with caffeine." It adds, "there is currently little evidence that bitter orange is safer to use than ephedra."

 

Hydroxycitric acid

The ingredient from which the Hydroxycut name was originally drawn is a derivative of the Malabar tamarind, or Garcinia cambogia. Used in traditional medicine to treat high cholesterol, it is touted as an agent that interferes with fat metabolism and possibly suppresses appetite. Its prospects were considered sufficiently promising that the pharmaceutical giant Hoffman-LaRoche in the 1960s committed significant funds to develop it as a possible weight-loss pill. The company dropped it, however, when rat studies showed that, at doses that appeared effective at reducing fat deposits, hydroxycitrate caused "potent testicular atrophy and toxicity."

 

Conjugated linoleic acid

Frequently included in products that promise to help dieters transform fat into lean muscle mass, CLA is a polyunsaturated fat found naturally in milk and meat and derived from the oil of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) seeds. One product that touts its power -- Phosphacore -- says that Carthamus tinctorius "may work to safely break up and flush away unhealthy adipose (fat) cells."

 

There's no good evidence that that's so in humans.

 

Sometimes recommended to patients with high overall cholesterol levels, CLA also appears to lower HDL ("good") cholesterol. And while patients with diabetes were once thought to benefit from taking CLA supplements, further studies have not borne that out. In fact, there is some evidence that for obese people, taking in too much CLA can contribute to a prediabetic state. One study found that CLA can prevent some human cells from taking up glucose and fatty acids. That could increase blood sugar and lipids in the blood and raise the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

 

Cortisol blockers

Tinctures of golden root (Rhodiola rosea) or other herbs, such as rose root, are widely marketed as weight-loss aids on the argument that stress -- which causes the release of the hormone cortisol -- can lead to weight gain and, particularly, to the accumulation of belly fat. In 2007, the Federal Trade Commission charged the marketers of two products -- CortiSlim and CortiStress, with making false and unsubstantiated claims about their product's weight-loss properties, leading to a multimillion dollar settlement. But many products still make the claim.

 

There is no evidence that blocking cortisol causes weight loss, or that herbal remedies lower cortisol levels, according to the Mayo Clinic's Katherine Zeratsky, a dietitian. In fact, the accumulation of fat due to high levels of cortisol appears to happen only in cases where there is an underlying medical issue, such as Cushing's disease, or as a side effect of certain drugs.

 

Antioxidants

Glutathione, green tea extracts and, more recently, the Brazilian açai berry are among the many sources of antioxidants marketed in supplements as an aid to weight loss. In test tubes, antioxidants called flavenoids and phenolic acids have been found to cut the production of triglycerides in mouse fat cells. But their weight-loss properties in humans haven't been rigorously tested yet. Antioxidants are thought to reduce cell damage that can lead to cancer growth, which also leads to their widespread marketing as an aid to detoxifying diets.

 

Research suggests that glutathione taken orally is not well absorbed across the gastrointestinal tract. In a study in which very large doses of oral glutathione were administered to humans, researchers concluded it was not possible to increase circulating glutathione to levels that could have any clinical benefit. Extracts of green tea and the increasingly popular açai berry, at least, may differ from glutathione in that there is evidence they are taken in through the gut and do make it into the bloodstream. But whether it helps to neutralize toxins or fats once there remains an open question.

 

Chitosan

The chemically cleansed product of grinding up the shells of shrimps, crabs and lobsters, chitosan is a powder that has been used in the water-purification industry for years: Sprinkled on top of holding tanks, it binds to lipids, or fats. Fats and oils can thus be skimmed off easily. This has led to the claim that supplements containing chitosan have amazing "fat magnet" qualities, absorbing dietary fat before it can be absorbed into the gut and flushing it away. In addition, chitosan is touted as a source of fiber, which may contribute to sensations of fullness when consumed with a meal.

 

But does chitosan act in the body in the same way it does in water-purification plants? Three human clinical trials found no difference in weight or serum cholesterol levels between subjects taking chitosan supplements and those taking a placebo after three-to-eight weeks. While chitosan is generally considered safe, it could be dangerous to anyone with shellfish allergies.

 

Hoodia

A succulent plant native to the Kalahari Desert in Africa, hoodia (Hoodia gordonii) is chewed and eaten by San Bushmen to reduce their hunger and thirst during long hunts. This back story has raised hoodia to mythic levels in the world of weight-loss supplement marketing.

 

In a September 2004 study published in Brain Research, scientists injected p57, thought to be the active ingredient in hoodia, into a region of rats' brains thought to govern appetite. They found reduced activity there.

 

In 1998, the drug maker Pfizer purchased the right to develop p57 for $21 million, but abandoned the quest for a hoodia drug in 2003. Unilever, which makes Slim-Fast meal-replacement products, recently dropped plans to fortify its products with hoodia. A former Pfizer scientist has warned that in extracting p57 from hoodia, researchers at Pfizer found that some components could not be removed that had "unwanted effects" on the liver. In an April 26, 2005, letter to the New York Times, scientist Jasjit S. Bindra warned that dieters "should be wary of using" hoodia until its safety has been better established.

 

Iovate's voluntary recall of Hydroxycut products, notably, did not include its hoodia formulation -- an indication that the FDA has not found evidence of serious danger.

 

Aristolochic acid

Wild ginger (Asarum canadense) is among a family of plants widely used in Chinese and traditional medicine for stomach ailments, to restore a woman's energy after the birth of a child, to treat cough, allergy and breathing problems, and in some weight-loss formulas.

 

Aristolochic acid, says Grollman, "is one of the most potent human carcinogens ever known." Declaring the substance to be both cancer-causing and toxic to human kidneys, the FDA in 2001 advised the U.S. dietary-supplements industry not to manufacture products using the chemical and banned its importation. But a 2003 letter to the FDA from UC Berkeley's Carcinogenic Potency Project identified 112 herbal products still available online that contain, or were likely to contain, aristolochic acid.

 

The danger of aristolochic acid came to light when more than 100 women participating in a weight-loss program in Belgium developed kidney damage and urinary tract cancers. All had been prescribed an herbal weight-loss remedy that contained it. Though banned throughout Europe and in Japan, Aristolochia extracts continue to be used widely in China. Any product bearing the species name "Aristolochia," "Bragantia" or "Asarum" should be avoided.

 

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times.

 

Case study: A soldier suffers health problems after using Hydroxycut

Robert Tropea is a plaintiff in a planned lawsuit against maker Iovate Health Sciences Inc.

 

By Melissa Healy

Baltimore Sun

Monday, May 25, 2009

 

Early this month, Robert Tropea was at his new job at the cash register of an Army PX when his former sergeant rushed in to deliver some news: Hydroxycut, the weight-loss supplement Tropea had taken for three months in 2007, had been recalled from the market. The FDA had linked the product to a string of illnesses, including liver damage, seizures, abnormal heart function and a condition called rhabdomyolysis.

 

Tropea says he was "completely shocked": How could an herbal supplement he took to trim down do all that? At least, he thought, it offered an explanation for the mysterious turn in his health and fortune.

 

A former Army radio operator stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, the 27-year-old had been medically discharged from the service just six months before. After a physical-training session with his sergeant in July 2007, Tropea's arm and shoulder muscles ached as they never had before. His urine was black. At the hospital, a blood test showed his creatine kinase levels -- a test for organ and muscle damage -- were 3,000 times the normal limit.

 

Doctors diagnosed rhabdomyolysis, an acute breakdown of muscle tissue that can damage the liver and kidneys and, in severe cases, cause sudden death. Because rhabdomyolysis is most often the result of crush injuries, heat stroke, alcoholism or drug use, doctors thought it was unusual to see the condition in a fit, active-duty serviceman who, according to his military records, drank alcohol very rarely, had regularly passed drug tests, and had no recent history of trauma. Fearing a potentially disastrous recurrence, Tropea's physicians have warned against physical exertion of any kind.

 

He used to bench press hundreds of pounds and could do push-ups with one arm. Now, says Tropea, he has trouble picking up his 3-year-old daughter and worries that he won't be able to coach her soccer team one day. His Army career -- from which he had planned to retire as an officer after completing his college degree -- is over.

 

Hydroxycut, Tropea believes, has left his health -- and his future -- uncertain. Tropea, who still lives in Stuttgart, is among the first wave of plaintiffs in a planned lawsuit against Iovate Health Sciences Inc., the maker of Hydroxycut.

 

"I thought of it as a supplement to help burn fat and increase energy -- no different than a vitamin to help me with exercise," says Tropea of the Hydroxycut Hardcore supplement he took. "I had read the label, looked at some of the ingredients. Quite a bit of it, I didn't know what it was. But they were selling it as something safe, and I took what they said and ran with it." Iovate refused to discuss Tropea's experience. "We have not seen the complaint and therefore cannot comment on it," said company spokeswoman Jamie Moss.

 

Like 59% of Americans polled by the Harris Poll in 2002, Tropea believed a government agency such as the FDA assured the safety of dietary supplements before they could be sold to the public. It is a belief that is only partially true.

 

Tropea had not even thought to inform his doctors that he had been taking Hydroxycut steadily for the three months leading up to his hospitalization, in an effort to boost his fitness level and get down to the weight limits set for active-duty soldiers. The only medication he had ever taken was Ibuprofen. And Hydroxycut, he reasoned, wasn't medication.

 

That's where Tropea was wrong.

 

"Dietary supplements are typically derived from plants and minerals, and they certainly can have effects on the body" as powerful as the effects that drugs can have, says David B. Allison, director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Clinical Nutrition Research Center and an expert on the safety of dietary supplements.

 

"This idea that dietary supplements are all natural is nice. But they're really no different than many drugs which are traditionally derived from minerals or extracts of plants or animals. And everything we do and take has side effects."

 

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times.

 

Opinion

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