Avoid red yeast rice products promoted as treatments for high cholesterol, FDA warns

Medicine News Today – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to buy or eat three red yeast rice products promoted and sold on web sites. The products may contain an unauthorized drug that could be harmful to health. The products are promoted as dietary supplements for treating high cholesterol. Read more

Soy protects hearts of older women

SUPER SOY EXTRACT 300 GRAMS POWDER EcoGen® Soy Isoflavone Concentrate 300 grams Item Catalog Number: 296 EcoGen® soybean isoflavone concentrate is designed to support cardiovascular function, additionally targeting immune health, breast health and prostate health. EcoGen® soybean isoflavone concentrate is a potent source of isoflavones due to

Acupuncture on hypertension ‘a clear effect’: landmark study

Heartwire – A study billed as the first rigorous, randomized trial in the West to test acupuncture against a sham (fake) needle technique to treat hypertension suggests that, performed properly, acupuncture may produce blood-pressure changes on a par with monotherapy in mild to moderate hypertension.

“It’s certainly not like a wonder drug; it’s not a massive effect, but it’s a clear effect,” lead investigator Dr Frank A Flachskampf (Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Germany) said.

Smaller randomized trials have been performed in China, with mixed results, while one randomized study in the West found no difference in blood-pressure lowering between traditional Chinese acupuncture, standardized acupuncture, and a sham procedure, the authors note. This earlier study did not use ambulatory blood-pressure measurements, believed to be superior to office-based measurements.

Results of their study are published online June 4, 2007 in Circulation.

For the study, 160 outpatients with uncomplicated, mild to moderate hypertension were randomized to six weeks of acupuncture performed by Chinese medicine practitioners, trained in China, or to a sham procedure. In both arms, patients underwent 22 sessions, each 30 minutes in length. By the end of the six weeks, 24-hour ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly reduced from baseline in the acupuncture-treated patients (5.4 mm Hg and 3.0 mm Hg, respectively), and this change was also significantly different from values in the sham-treated patients, in whom no meaningful changes were seen.

After three and six months, however, the blood-pressure reductions disappeared, leading investigators to conclude that ongoing acupuncture treatments would be required to maintain the blood-pressure reductions.

“The main finding is that for the first time in a reasonably sized but still relatively small randomized study, this establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that acupuncture lowers blood pressure,” Flachskampf commented. “It’s a modest but undeniable effect on both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.”

The extent of the blood-pressure reductions are comparable to those seen with ACE-inhibitor monotherapy or aggressive lifestyle changes, including radical salt restrictions, he added.

A “demanding” alternative to drugs

Flachskampf had some caveats, acknowledging that the regular acupuncture sessions used in the study represent a significant time investment: each acupuncture session lasted 30 minutes—not including transportation and administrative time—and took place several times a week. The study subjects were also reasonably healthy, with no other major risk factors and with only mild to moderate hypertension.

“This is clearly something that would probably not work as well with very sick people or people with blood pressure at dangerous levels,” he said. “We cannot easily extrapolate to people, for example, with complicated hypertension who have had a myocardial infarction.”

Flachskampf believes, however, that acupuncture likely represents an attractive option in specific patients, particularly those averse to taking medical therapy who are open to so-called “alternative” medicine.

“This is probably only for people who somehow relate to this spiritually, who say I am profoundly against taking drugs and I’m very fond of Oriental wisdom or things like that,” Flachskampf told heartwire. “I don’t want to make a joke about this, but this certainly needs more compliance than taking two or three pills a day. It’s much more demanding.”

Unlike drugs, acupuncture appeared to have few or no side effects, although two people complained that the needles were painful. “Clearly, many millions of Chinese get acupuncture without any major problems so I think this is really a minor point,” Flachskampf observed.

[Circulation 2007; DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.106.661140. Flachskampf FA, Gallasch J, Gefeller O, et al. "Randomized trial of acupuncture to lower blood pressure." ]

acupuncture

Dan shen’s effect for stroke patients lacks strong evidence

Health Behavior News Service, by Bruce Sylvester – The traditional Chinese medicine dan shen (丹参, Salviae miltiorrhizae), a standard treatment for ischemic stroke in China, lacks strong scientific evidence to support such use, according a new review of studies.Nevertheless, based on the available data, dan shen treatment showed a tendency to improve short-term neurological deficits in stroke patients, say researchers at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China.

However, the short-term result “should be interpreted cautiously because of the poor methodological quality of included trials and the small numbers of patients,” said review co-author and neurology professor Ming Liu.

The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates research in all aspects of health care. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing trials on a topic.

Obstruction of a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain can result in ischemic stroke, which accounts for about 83% of all strokes.

In China, post-stroke use of herbal medicine is part of standard care in both Western-style hospitals and in traditional Chinese medicine hospitals. Dan shen, in various pill, tablet and injection formulations, is the herb most commonly given for ischemic stroke; its use in that context spans more than three decades.

However, few researchers have tested the herb’s effectiveness in rigorous clinical trials that approach current international standards.

The reviewers found six studies that met inclusion criteria for the review — randomized or quasi-randomized and controlled — involving 494 acute ischemic stroke patients.

The Cochrane reviewers found that methods of randomly assigning study subjects to dan shen or placebo were unclear, and that this could have led to results exaggerating a positive treatment effect by 30% to 41%. “It is therefore plausible that dan shen is truly ineffective and the apparent benefits are simply due to bias arising from the methodological weaknesses of the studies,” they say.

Since treatment and follow-up in these studies ranged from 14 to 28 days, it was not possible to assess the long-term effects of dan shen.

“We found no evidence to support the routine use of dan shen agents for ischemic stroke,” Liu said. “However, if the apparently beneficial effects on neurological impairment were confirmed in methodologically rigorous trials, it would lead to a useful treatment for stroke being identified,” she added.

Ted Kaptchuck, O.M.D., associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said, “in Chinese society, at this time, basic science and laboratory evidence seems to be enough to gain widespread acceptance and adoption for the use herbal and other medications. In the West, we think it is a long shot to go from basic laboratory evidence to demonstrated clinical efficacy in randomized trials. We are not at the point where it is clear that a traditional Chinese herb has a major role in health care.”

Liu agreed: “The designs of these trials need to be improved in the future research, not only in the clinical trials on dan shen agents, but also in trials on other Chinese herbal medicine.”

[Dan Shen agents for acute ischaemic stroke (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 2.]

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international nonprofit, independent organization that produces and disseminates systematic reviews of health care interventions and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions. Visit http://www.cochrane.org for more information.

chinese medicine

Green tea cuts fatal illness risk

BBC – Drinking green tea can substantially cut the risk of dying from a range of illnesses, a Japanese study has found.

The research, which looked at over 40,000 people, found the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease was cut by more than a quarter.

But British heart experts said the benefits may be linked to the whole Japanese diet, which is healthier than that eaten in the west. Read more

Dan shen can reduce blood pressure, study says

APS.org – Many patients with high blood pressure have sought relief from complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). In so doing, many have consumed danshen, a Chinese herb used in Oriental medicine that promotes blood flow and treats cardiovascular disease.

Tanshinone II_A, an antioxidant in salviae miltiorrhizae (Dan shen 丹参). Since tanshinone II_A is widely available, a team of researchers has used it to investigate if this active ingredient can reduce blood pressure. In a soon-to-be-released study, using an animal model, the scientists have found that tanshinone II_A does reduce blood pressure.

Summary of Methodology

To assess the effect of tanshinone II_A, the protocol consisted of several parts. The researchers applied the 2-kidney-1-clip protocol to induce renal hypertension in male golden Syrian hamsters. The animals were anesthetized and a retroperitoneal approach was used to place a silver clip to constrict the right renal artery. Sham-operated hamsters and mice underwent the same procedure, except for the placement of a clip.

Both sets of hamsters received 50 μg of tanshinone II_A/100g of body weight once a day for two weeks. After the two-week treatment period, mean arterial blood pressure was measured in the right carotid artery. To examine the microvascular actions of tanshinone II_A researchers applied it topically to the hamsters’ cheek pouch or mice cremaster muscles to achieve the final concentration of one μg/ml or five μg/ml. After the application of tanshinone II_A, the experiment was continued for an additional 60-minute period in order to measure arteriolar diameter and peri-arteriolar nitric oxide concentration.

Results

Tanshinone II_A was found to have significantly reduced blood pressure in the hamsters. The experimental constriction of the renal artery increased mean arterial pressure to 161.2±6.9 mmHg relative to 114.3±9.2 mmHg in age-matched hamsters. Treatment with 50 μg tanshinone II_A/100g body for two weeks reduced the mean arterial pressure from 161.2±6.9 to 130.0±7.8 mmHg.

The research team also discovered that tanshinone II_A caused widening of the arterioles in the hamster cheek pouch microcirculation via enhanced expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. The topical application of tanshinone II_A at one μg/ml and five μg/ml caused significant dose-related vasodilation, indicated by the increased agent/control ratio of arteriolar diameters from 1.0 to 1.25±0.08 and 1.57±0.11, respectively, in the hamster cheek pouch. The increase in arteriolar diameter ratio was significant relative to the vehicle for each concentration as well as for comparison between the two concentrations of tanshinone II_A.

Conclusions

As a result of the findings the researchers concluded that tanshinone II_A: (1) significantly reduced blood pressure in hamsters, (2) enhanced the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, (3) increased the production of nitric oxide and (4) induced blood pressure changes through vasodilation in hamster blood microvessels. While the mechanisms of how tanshinone II_A or danshen work in hypertension are not yet fully understood, these results contribute to the effort to bring complementary and alternative medicine and allopathic care closer together in the treatment of hypertensive patients.

The study will soon be published in the American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology (December 15, 2006), doi:10.1152/ajpheart.01027.2006, and is entitled Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase is a Molecular Vascular Target for the Chinese Herb Danshen in Hypertension. It was conducted by the team of David D. Kim, PhD, OMD; Fabiola A. Sánchez, PhD; Ricardo G. Durán, BS; Takehito Kanetaka, MD; and Walter N. Durán, PhD, all of the Program in Vascular Biology, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology and Department of Surgery, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ.

chinese medicine

Red yeast rice may lower blood lipid levels

CM NEWS – Replacing daily intake of white rice with red yeast rice may have a positive lipid-lowering effects in patients with primary hyperlipidemia, a meta-analysis of 93 randomized trials concludes.

The study was released in Chinese Medicine journal and was a joint study by alternative medicine experts in Norway and traditional Chinese medicine researchers in Shanghai and Beijing.

The meta study analyzed data from 93 randomized trials which include a total of 9625 participants. Researchers find that hyperlipidemia patients who have consumed red rice show significant reduction of serum total cholesterol levels (weighted mean difference -0.91 mmol/L, 95% confidence interval -1.12 to -0.71), triglycerides levels (-0.41 mmol/L, -0.6 to -0.22), and LDL-cholesterol levels (-0.73 mmol/L, -1.02 to -0.043), and increase of HDL-cholesterol levels (0.15 mmol/L, 0.09 to 0.22), compared to placebo groups.

Researchers emphasize that the positive effect on lipid levels by red rice shown by these studies indicates short term benefits. Whether red rice should be recommended as an alternative treatments for primary hyperlipidemia requires further studies.

According to Medline, red yeast rice contains several compounds collectively known as Monacolins, substances known to inhibit cholesterol synthesis. One of these, “Monacolin K” is a potent inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, and is also known as Mevinolin or Lovastatin (Mevacor®, a drug produced by Merck & Co., Inc).

Medline also says:

There is limited evidence about the side effects of red yeast. Mild headache and abdominal discomfort can occur. Side effects may be similar to those for the prescription drug lovastatin (Mevacor®). Heartburn, gas, bloating, muscle pain or damage, dizziness, asthma, and kidney problems are possible. People with liver disease should not use red yeast products.

In theory, red yeast may increase the risk of bleeding. Caution is advised in patients with bleeding disorders or taking drugs that may increase the risk of bleeding. Dosing adjustments may be necessary. A metabolite of Monascus called mycotoxin citrinin (CTN) in fermentation may be harmful.

[Chinese Medicine 2006, 1:4 (23 November 2006)]

chinese medicine

« Previous Page