OBJECTIVE To examine the use of vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements in patients attending family practice clinics. DESIGN A prospective 1-year cohort study. SETTING Sixteen family practices in Calgary. PARTICIPANTS One hundred and eighteen patients (more than 18 years of age) were initially interviewed; 12 patients were lost to follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Number and type of sup...

Dietary supplement-induced adverse effects often resolve quickly after discontinuation of the offending product, especially in younger patients. The potential for unwanted outcomes can be amplified in elderly patients or those taking multiple prescription drugs, especially where interactions exist with drugs metabolized by cytochrome P450 enzymes. Attributing injury or illness to a specific sup...

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) has a prevalence of developing obesity, Type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disorder. These metabolic disorders and PCOS pathogenesis involve Oxidative Stress (OS) and low-grade inflammation. There are many modern drugs available for the treatment of PCOS, such as Clomifene Citrate (CC) but these drugs not work with abovementioned etiologies of PCOS. Hence, tre...

INTRODUCTION Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome presents with thunderclap headaches accompanied by mild neurologic deficits and is characterized by multifocal narrowing of the cerebral arteries that resolves over days to weeks. This syndrome may be idiopathic or occur in special contexts, most often involving adrenergic or serotonergic overactivity. To the best of our knowledge, reve...

OBJECTIVE To further study the clinical value of a herbal supplement in the treatment of chronic foot ulcers in diabetic patients. DESIGN Double-blind randomised, placebo-control trial. SETTING Two general hospitals in Hong Kong. PATIENTS Eighty patients were recruited according to strict selection criteria. INTERVENTIONS Clinical measures included standard antidiabetic treatment, daily...

BACKGROUND Patients seek herbal/hormonal dietary supplements (HHDS) to prevent and/or solve health and aging issues. After two men developed an unusual course of clinically aggressive prostate cancer within months of starting daily consumption of the same HHDS product, we investigated the effect of this product on prostate cancer progression. METHODS We evaluated serum levels of total testost...

With over 50,000 dietary supplements available, resurgence in consumer interest over the past few decades has resulted in an explosion of use of these agents worldwide. Disillusionment with current medications and belief in "natural medicines" has resulted in a multibillion dollar industry. Active ingredients in a number of herbs are being tested for therapeutic potential, and some are efficaci...

CONTEXT Medicinal use of dietary herbal supplements can cause inadvertent arsenic toxicosis. CASE PRESENTATION A 54-year-old woman was referred to the University of California, Davis, Occupational Medicine Clinic with a 2-year history of worsening alopecia and memory loss. She also reported having a rash, increasing fatigue, nausea, and vomiting, disabling her to the point where she could no ...