STUDY BREAKS DOWN SUPPLEMENT USE BY PHYSICIANS

By staff reporter, 16-Jul-2009

The majority of physicians and nurses in the US recommend supplements to their patients but also use them personally, finds a new study.

Commissioned by the supplement trade group Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and published in the peer-reviewed Nutrition Journal, the study surveyed 900 physicians and 277 nurses.

“Health professionals including physicians and nurses are just as interested in healthy lifestyles as members of the general public and are just as likely to benefit from rational supplementation,” wrote the authors, Annette Dickinson, Ph.D., past president of CRN, Andrew Shao, Ph.D., CRN vice president, scientific and regulatory affairs, and Nicolas Boyon, senior vice president, Ipsos Public Affairs, who conducted the Study on behalf of CRN.

Multivitamins most popular

The online survey, conducted in October 2007, found that 72 percent of physicians and 89 percent of nurses used dietary supplements. In addition, 79 percent of physicians and 82 percent of nurses said that they recommend them to their patients.

Overall, the survey found that multivitamins were the most commonly used supplement. Other popular vitamins and minerals were vitamin C, a B vitamin complex, vitamin D, vitamin E and calcium.

Out of the non-vitamin and mineral products, physicians were most likely to use green tea, followed by fish oil, glucosamine, soy, flax seed and chondroitin. Nurses were most likely to use green tea, fish oil, echinacea, glucosamine and flax seed.

Motivations

Some 40 percent of physicians and 48 percent of nurses said they took supplements for “overall health and wellness”.

Over two-thirds of survey respondents said they had multiple motivations for using supplements, including bone health, flu or colds, heart health, immune health, joint health, energy and musculoskeletal pain.

When it came to recommending supplements to their patients, the most common reason was again overall health and wellness, followed by bone health, joint health, flu or colds, heart health, immune health, musculoskeletal pain, and energy.

“This latest survey adds to the growing body of published data suggesting that healthcare professionals are among the highest users of supplements,” said CRN.

Another study published in 2000 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that 64 percent of female physicians used vitamin or mineral supplements at least occasionally, and 47 percent used a vitamin or mineral supplement at least five days a week.

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We need to be pro-active about our health

Omega-3 deficiency causes 96,000 US deaths per year, say researchers

By Shane Starling, 26-Jun-2009

I thought this was really important. You'll notice that they say that this is not definitive...I am not willing to wait for all the I's to be dotted and the T's to be crossed, which could take years and years. The evidence so far is convincing enough that I make sure to get my Omega 3's daily. See my note at the bottom of the post.

Related topics: Omega-3, Research, Nutritional lipids and oils, Cardiovascular health, Cognitive and mental function

Omega-3 deficiency is the sixth biggest killer of Americans and more deadly than excess trans fat intake, according to a new study.

The Harvard University researchers looked at 12 dietary, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors such as tobacco smoking and high blood pressure and used a mathematical model to determine how many fatalities could have been prevented if better practices had been observed.

The study, jointly funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Association of Schools of Public Health, drew on 2005 data from the US National Health Center for Health Statistics. They determined that there were 72,000-96,000 preventable deaths each year due to omega-3 deficiency, compared to 63,000-97,000 for high trans fat intake.

Power of diet

“This is a very interesting analysis,” said Andrew Shao, PhD, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN).

“I think this analysis reinforces the long-held notion that the diet has a tremendously powerful impact on health and longevity and that the consumption of omega-3’s (along with fruits and veggies) by Americans is far from adequate.”

But he questioned the precision of the study findings due to complicating factors that had not been addressed.

“It is hard to say how definitive their findings are as far as the numbers are concerned, since chronic diseases and associated deaths are multifactorial,” he told NutraIngredients-USA.com this morning.

“As far as diet goes, is it the lack of fruits and veggies or the excess animal and processed foods that is the culprit? It is hard to say.”

He added that the study did not consider other key nutrients such as vitamin D.

Shao’s counterpart at the Natural Products Association, Dan Fabricant, PhD, emphasized the potential public health care savings that could be derived from better nutrition, especially in tight economic times, but called for further study.

“We need more clinical research that nails down why omega-3 is so effective,” Fabricant said. “This seems to be the last missing piece for omega-3s in terms of clarifying the picture for governmental/regulatory bodies of its efficacy.”

Shao added the study highlighted the importance of establishing a dietary reference intake (DRI) for omega-3 forms, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

“Once these requirements are established, the government can undertake initiatives to improved Americans’ intake of these critical nutrients,” he observed.

“But until that happens, Americans are likely to continue to fall short in their omega-3 intake, and we see a glimpse of what the consequence can be from this study.”

Shocking

The study will do no harm to the omega-3 industry, with the world’s leading supplier, Ocean Nutrition Canada, calling the results “shocking”.

“…this new study validates that Omega-3 EPA/DHA is more than just part of a healthy diet...it's a matter of life and death," said Ocean Nutrition Canada's vice president of marketing and communications, Lori Covert.

"We know that daily doses of Omega-3 EPA/DHA can help with many conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, and we're committed to increasing consumer awareness about the drastic Omega-3 EPA/DHA deficiency in the Western diet,” Covert said.

Tobacco smoking ranked as the highest risk factor with 436,000 to 500,000 attributed preventable deaths, followed by high blood pressure (372,000 to 414,000), obesity (188,000 to 237,000), physical inactivity (164,000 to 222,000), high blood glucose (163,000 to 217,000), high LDL cholesterol (94,000 to 124,000) and high salt intake (97,000 to 107,000).

The other risk factors were alcohol use; low polyunsaturated fatty acids; low fruits and vegetables intake and alcohol use.

Source: Public Library of Science Medicine Journal

Vol. 6, April, 2009

There are so many brands out there and so many are adulterated or substandard. There are actualy 7 Omega 3's and most companies have only 1 or 2.

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