Questioning results of more recent medical studies

PRIME – August 2013 By Jonathan Evans Herbal Information Specialist for the Herbarium I have literally just returned from vacation. I am hot, sticky, jet lagged and as usual, disgusted with the mainstream media. It was embarrassing as an American and former news reporter to have to endure the laughs pertaining to San Francisco TV station KTV's reporting of bogus "Asian" names; Som Ting Wong? … come on, that's inexcusable. I also dealt with many friends and customers who panicked when they heard a news story that indicated fish oil was bad for the prostate The reporting on this topic by NBC News is particularly atrocious. I read the abstract and summary of the story, then read the actual script written by the network's senior news writer. What garbage – it was great work for a creative writing class, but as I reported last month, here the media messed up again – ironically on the same subject. I will admit I have not gotten enough detail to adequately explain how these researchers came to the conclusions they did, but I have enough information to tell you there were no backgrounds taken on study subjects diets, so perhaps they were consuming high doses of omega 6 or eating lots of fried foods. I did not find any information about the amount of omega 3 they were ingesting, nor the source, which can have a big effect on results. The details I read gave conflicting results and the lead researcher did not even recommend individuals stop taking fish oil – just to cut down on it – though specific amounts were never indicated. A review of other research showed that fish oil was overwhelmingly beneficial for a number of conditions in the human body, including cancer. I will stand by previous statements and years of experience when it comes to the danger of a nutrient such as fish oil. The vast majority of studies show how good it is for you, and then one negative study comes out based on a relatively small group and some in the media go crazy. If you could have read the original research abstract, then compared it to the alarmist commentary from the NBC News script, you would have been, like me, shocked. On another subject, sometimes I get very frustrated looking at our government's spending on research grants. It seems these researchers choose to study things just to keep the money flowing and are not really giving us any value for the studies. We have all heard of the tens of thousands of dollars spent to study the sex life of horseshoe crabs or flies and it never ceases to amaze me the number of research facilities and groups that exist out there. Here is one that caught my attention for obvious reasons. The United States Preventive Services Task force (who?) recommends against daily supplementation of calcium and vitamin D because of increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This recommendation is based on two studies. The National Institute of Medicine recommendation took into account more than1,000 studies showing the need for supplements in addition to a regular diet. What neither group took into account was the need for ... wait for it . magnesium and its effects on these nutrients! It is well know that too much calcium or poorly absorbed calcium contributes to kidney stones, hardening of the arteries and cardiac arrhythmias. There are more than enough studies to support the need for magnesium. The nonprofit Nutritional Magnesium Association has some great information about the need for magnesium; check it out for yourself. Thanks for listening to my complaints about the mainstream media and its health reporting. I feel better now. Look for my regular column next month! – Jonathan Please send your questions on botanical remedies to Natures Rx: Jonathan Evans via email at info@theherbarium.com, or by regular mail to: The Herbarium, 264 Exchange St., Chicopee, Mass. 01013. If requesting additional information from Evans, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope.