Posted by Elizabeth on June 26, 2001, at 1:53:30
In reply to Re: Omega-3 fish oil in general health, posted by gilbert on June 25, 2001, at 20:10:20
> Maybe I am just not into the whole homeopathic approach to medicating....call me a druggie I don't care give me some good old fashioned conrolled and tested pharmeceuticals.
Nutritional supplementation is very different from "homeopathy." Although "homeopathic medicine" is almost certainly quackery, it is true that some people can benefit from taking supplements such as folate and omega-3's. It is possible to get standardised supplements (although the "food supplement" industry is not regulated nearly as strictly as the "pharmaceutical" industry is). This is why, if you're going to try "food supplements," it's important to investigate the reliability of different brands.
There are some drugs that can cause vitamin or mineral depletion; for example, the anti-TB drug isoniazid (INH) carries a high risk of pyridoxal phosphate (vitamin B6) deficiency. When I found out I'd been exposed to TB (positive skin test, but normal chest x-ray), I took isoniazid for 6 months. My doctor said I should take the B6 supplements that the pharmacy carried rather than random over-the-counter B6 supplements. I don't know whether OTC vitamin and mineral supplements are really all that unreliable, but plant extracts (like St. John's wort) and other supplements (amino acids, inositol, SAMe, etc.) definitely can vary depending on the brand.
I mentioned OmegaBrite because the typical health-food store fish oil supplements that I've come across did not seem to have anything close to the amount of EFAs that the preliminary studies on mood disorders have found effective. Stoll is very well respected in academic medical circles as a clinician, a teacher, and a researcher, and I know that he and a number of other doctors (in the Boston area at least) have been impressed with the effects of omega-3's. The theoretical basis for this treatment is sound as well, as far as anyone can tell.
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:67716
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010625/msgs/67912.html