- camexpo wins ‘Highly Commended’ accolade at industry excellence awards
- Low calorie diet offers cure for type 2 diabetes
- ASA tells all homeopathic websites to remove efficacy claims
- Study could lead to fresh thinking on best omega-3 sources
- NHS report claims supplement users are wasting their money
- Royal row fails to close centre probing alternative medicine
camexpo wins ‘Highly Commended’ accolade at industry excellence awards
camexpo was honoured with a ‘Highly Commended’ distinction in the “Best Trade Show Exhibition” category at the Association of Event Organisers’ annual Excellence Awards last Friday.
This is the third consecutive year that camexpo has been a finalist for this particular AEO Excellence Award, commenting on the achievement, Amy Muddle, camexpo’s marketing manager, said: “There were smiles all round when the host announced that camexpo had been Highly Commended by the judges in the Best UK Trade Show category. The team at Diversified is extremely dedicated to organising outstanding events, so for camexpo be a shortlisted finalist for three years running is really quite special indeed!”
Now in its ninth year, camexpo returns to Earls Court on 22-23 October 2011 with over 200 leading exhibitors, representing companies from right across the entire complementary healthcare sector.
Low calorie diet offers cure for type 2 diabetes
Scientists at Newcastle University have shown that people with obesity related type 2 diabetes can be cured, at least temporarily, by keeping to a an extreme low-calorie diet, reports The Guardian.
Although the study, funded by Diabetes UK, was small-scale, its findings are considered highly significant as they directly challenge the conventional medical view that diabetes is a life-long disease.
In the study, 11 type 2 diabetes patients had to slash their food intake to just 600 calories a day for two months. After the eight weeks the volunteers returned to a normal diet, after being given advice on healthy eating and portion size. Three months after the start of the trial seven of the 11 were free of diabetes.
“To have people free of diabetes after years with the condition is remarkable – and all because of an eight-week diet,” Roy Taylor, professor at Newcastle University, told The Guardian: “This is a radical change in understanding type 2 diabetes. It will change how we can explain it to people newly diagnosed with the condition. While it has long been believed that someone with type 2 diabetes will always have the disease, and that it will steadily get worse, we have shown that we can reverse the condition.”
The research, which is being presented today (June 24) at the American Diabetes Association conference, shows that an extremely low-calorie diet, consisting of diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables, prompts the body to remove the fat clogging the pancreas and preventing it from making insulin.
Dr Taylor added: “We believe this shows that type 2 diabetes is all about energy balance in the body,” said Taylor. “If you are eating more than you burn, then the excess is stored in the liver and pancreas as fat, which can lead to type 2 diabetes in some people. What we need to examine further is why some people are more susceptible to developing diabetes than others.”
The nutritionist, Patrick Holford, whose book Say No To Diabetes documents cases of type 2 diabetes sufferers whose diabetes has been reversed with a low GL (glycemic load) diet commented: “I believe that (this study is showing) the effect of eating what is essentially a very low GL diet. By cutting food intake so drastically the body not only burns fat, but also doesn’t need to produce insulin. The eight weeks allows a reversal of the conditions that led to diabetes in the first place.
“We get excellent results in diabetics following my Low GL Diet principles. Recently, a GP practice put 23 patients on the edge of diabetes through our Zest4Life programme for 12 weeks – diet only, no supplements. Glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c –a level above 7 means very high diabetes risk) went from 6.9 to 5.9 and the average weight lost was 1 stone (13lbs).
ASA tells all homeopathic websites to remove efficacy claims
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has told all owners of homeopathy websites to remove marketing claims that “refer to, or imply, the efficacy of homeopathy for treating or helping specific questions”.
The ASA says it has issued the blanket instruction after being bombarded by a co-ordinated campaign of complaints against adverts for homeopathic remedies.
On its website the Agency says: “The high volume of complaints and the number of marketers we need to work with means we’ve taken a different approach to our normal investigation process. We’re now dealing with the complaints as part of a wider investigation project.”
The ASA says there is “insufficient robust scientific evidence” to support claims for homeopathic remedies. It says it will monitor the situation in July “to see whether the necessary changes have been made”.
A news study showing that conversion of the plant-based omega-3 ALA to the long-chain EPA and DHA may be increased in vegans and vegetarians who do not eat fish, could lead to fresh thinking about the value of different sources of omega-3s.
The study, the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, of 14,422 people suggests that the body increases the conversion rate of ALA to EPA and DHA when direct sources of EPA and DHA are lower
The most striking result of this study was that despite having significantly lower intakes of EPA and DHA (associated with fish consumption), blood levels of EPA and DHA in vegans and vegetarians were approximately the same as regular fish eaters indicating that their bodies respond by increasing the conversion rate of ALA to the longer chain Omega 3s EPA and DHA. As the body would only be able to do this if it has enough ALA to begin with this could have implications for public health recommendations and highlight the importance of adequate ALA intake.
Study could lead to fresh thinking on best omega-3 sources
source of ALA is from seeds and seed oils. It is also obtained from the green leaves of broad leafed plants and from green vegetables.
The recent study, led by Ailsa Welch from the University of East Anglia (and published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition), analyzed intakes of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), in 14,422 men and women aged between 39 and 78, and correlated these with blood levels of ALA, EPA, and DHA in four groups: fish-eaters; non-fish-eating meat-eaters; vegetarians; and vegans..
Blood levels of fatty acids were measured in 4,902 people. Results showed that omega-3 intakes were between 57 and 80 percent lower in the non-fish-eaters, compared with fish-eaters. However, the differences in plasma levels of DHA and EPA between the groups were much smaller. Indeed, the average EPA level in fish eaters was 64.7 micromoles per liter, compared with 57.1, 55.1, and 50 micromoles per liter for non-fish-eating meat-eaters, vegetarians, or vegans. Furthermore, the average DHA level in fish eaters was 271 micromoles per liter, compared with 241.3, 223.5, and 286.4 micromoles per liter for non-fish-eating meat-eaters, vegetarians, or vegans.
The researchers concluded: “One explanation for this observation may be due to increased conversion, and our data suggest that the precursor-product ration from plant-derived ALA to circulating long chain n-3 PUFAs was significantly greater in non-fish eaters than in those who ate fish.”
Times’s doctor urges aggressive vitamin D supplementation
The Times’s resident GP, Dr Mark Porter, has described himself as “a vitamin D evangelist and an advocate of aggressive supplementation”.
In an article in The Times today (‘It’s time for health professionals to see the light on vitamin D’ – June 9) Porter writes: “Nearly every tissue in the body, from skin and bone to the brain and immune system, has receptors for interacting with vitamin D, and there is far more to its action than the oft cited role of preventing rickets.”
Responding to new research suggesting that babies born to mothers who experience lower exposure to sunlight during pregnancy may be at higher risk of developing diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Porter wrote: “It is too early to say whether the vitamin is definitely responsible for the apparent link between birth month and diseases such as multiple sclerosis, but recent trials that have already confirmed links between maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy and the risk of a child developing diabetes later in life.”
Porter added that he advised all pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to take a daily vitamin D supplement.
NHS report claims supplement users are wasting their money
Leading nutritionists and industry groups have roundly criticised a new NHS report which concludes that most people who take food supplements are wasting their money.
‘Supplements: Who needs them?’, which is being made available as a 34-page glossy booklet, says there is “a gap between perception and reality when it comes to the effectiveness of food supplements”.
The report claims that many widely used supplements “simply do not have enough robust evidence to support them”, and it accuses the media of fuelling “misconceptions” about the value of vitamin supplementation.
Repeating standard NHS advice, the report states that most people will obtain all of the vitamins they need from a healthy, balanced diet. But it accepts there is “good evidence” that certain groups – the elderly, pregnant women and children between the ages of six months and five years – can gain health benefits from supplementing.
While the report acknowledges that supplements are “unlikely to harm people”, it urges everyone to talk with their doctor before beginning any form of supplementation.
The report also suggests there is a need to further tighten rules governing the classification of supplements. And it points out that 80% of claims for supplements submitted to the European Food Safety Authority under the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation have so far been turned down. Manufactures, it warns, “may be forced to remove all unsupported health claims from their marketing”.
But the report has been roundly criticized by health experts, nutritionists and industry groups.
Writing in the Daily Express, GP and health writer, Dr Sarah Brewer, said that the NHS report was at odds with the Government’s own dietary surveys. This has identified several vitamins and minerals where large parts of the population are not meeting recommended levels — selenium, iron, Vitamin A, calcium, magnesium and zinc among them.
She added: “If people want to take their responsibility for their health and pay for supplements why should anyone dissuade them?”
The Health Food Manufacturers Association (HFMA) has challenged the NHS report’s basic premise that most people don’t need supplements. The HFMA’s executive director, Graham Keen, said: “Vitamins and minerals are essential for good health and wellbeing. In an ideal world, our diet would provide us with all the vitamins and minerals that our body needs. But evidence from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows that a significant proportion of the UK population simply doesn’t achieve nutritional sufficiency through diet alone.”
He added: “The vitamin and mineral supplements industry has an exceptional record of both safety and efficacy, in the UK and worldwide. Figures published by the Food Standards Agency showed that there were only 11 reported reactions to food supplements over an 11 year period, the majority of them in the lowest category of harm. Compared to other foods or medicines, food supplements have an enviable record.”
Leading nutritionist and health writer, Patrick Holford, called the report “one of the most ill-informed booklets I’ve ever read”. He told Natural Products that the report was highly selective in the research it referenced, often glossing over key findings that would have led to very different conclusions about important vitamins and supplement categories. He added: “Who funds this kind of pro-drug, anti-vitamin propaganda? I hope not my taxes.”
• A PDF version of ‘Supplements: Who needs them?’ is available by clicking the following link:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/05May/Pages/supplements-special-report.aspx
Royal row fails to close centre probing alternative medicine
One of the world¹s leading centres for alternative medicine research has been saved from closure, despite a row between its director and an aide to the Prince of Wales.
The University of Exeter¹s Centre for Complementary Medicine had been expected to shut this year after the retirement of Professor Edzard Ernst because of a shortage of funds. Professor Ernst had blamed this on a lack of support from the university after he clashed with Sir Michael Peat, a former private secretary to the Prince.
The unit has now been saved after the new Dean of the university¹s Peninsula Medical School agreed to fund the appointment of a successor to Professor Ernst after his retirement this month, The Times has learnt. Professor Ernst will stay on part-time to oversee the recruitment of a new professor.
Professor Ernst and his team have been widely praised by doctors and scientists for subjecting the medical claims made for alternative remedies such as homeopathy and acupuncture to the same scientific tests as conventional medicines.
The results have often revealed a lack of evidence for the effectiveness of complementary therapies, upsetting alternative practitioners and their supporters, including Prince Charles. In 2005, The Times disclosed that the scientist had attacked the Smallwood report advocating complementary medicine, commissioned by the Prince, as ³outrageous and deeply flawed².
This prompted a formal complaint from Sir Michael Peat, the Prince¹s private secretary, who accused Professor Ernst of discussing a document he had been shown in confidence. While Professor Ernst was not disciplined, he said Exeter had seen him as persona non grata in its aftermath. He said that attitude changed with the appointment last September of a new Dean of the Peninsula School, Professor Steve Thornton, who helped save the department.
Professor Ernst said: ³I am delighted with the decision, which will allow the centre to continue its important work.
³It is vital that complementary medicines are properly assessed, and there are few centres in the UK that do this rigorously rather than with a veneer of science.²
The Centre for Complementary Medicine was set up in 1993 with a £1 million donation from Sir Maurice Laing, an industrialist. While Sir Maurice gave a further £500,000, the university has never been able to raise matching funds.
A spokesman for the Peninsula Medical School said Professor Ernst¹s international reputation had convinced it of the need to recruit a successor. ³His scientifically rigorous research has contributed to the development of the evidence base for the use of complementary therapies and has helped to move the whole field forward. His achievements, and those of his colleagues, are such that we wish to continue to support the work of this research group.
³The financial commitment will depend on negotiation with the successful candidate but includes the expectation that the appointee will succeed in attracting substantial external funding to support their activities.² Professor Ernst said the £20 billion of efficiency savings that the NHS must make made the rigorous assessment of complementary medicines absolutely vital.
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