Spending on health and healthcare in most developed countries has
risen dramatically over the past five years, according to a new
report from think-tank the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD).
Women who often snack on nuts are less likely to go face surgery
for gallstone disease, a major source of morbidity in developed
countries, shows a new study.
Herbal companies looking for new products may not need to go far to
find new medicinal plants, according to a review, which finds that
weeds have produced more drugs and natural remedies than tropical
plants found in the rainforest.
The UK's medicines regulator is warning consumers about potential
risk from a traditional Chinese medicine called Nu Bao, said to
contain human placenta, deer antler (Corna cervi
pantotrichum) and donkey skin (Colla cori astini)...
India's largest pharmaceutical firm Ranbaxy Laboratories has
expanded its herbals range with the launch yesterday of three new
products, to be marketed under the 'New Age Herbals' name.
More than half of cancer patients assessed in a new study were
taking herbal remedies and supplements alongside conventional
treatment but this may put them at increased risk of dangerous side
effects, say researchers.
The natural sugar trehalose has been shown to relieve the symptoms
of Huntington's disease in mice and could one day be used to treat
the disease in humans, currently without cure, suggest Japanese
researchers.
New Jersey-based Bradley Pharmaceuticals is to market a new
probiotic product, supplied by Danish probiotics leader Chr.
Hansen, to the North American physicians market.
A new Internet-based health information campaign, to be launched by
the World Health Organisation (WHO), is aiming to change people's
attitudes to healthy eating and help to prevent some of the chronic
disease, said to burden...
UK natural extracts firm William Ransom & Son saw turnover and
profits slip in the first half of the year but said it remains
focused on its acquisition strategy, to be funded by cash from a
planned site sale.
Mounting scientific evidence for the therapeutic use of probiotics
suggests that these products should be incorporated into
conventional medical practices, concluded a recent meeting of
experts in probiotics.
An Australian government review of herbal and complementary
medicines looks set to provoke a wave of extensive reforms to the
sector, giving the national medicines body greater powers to
regulate natural health products.
Pan Pharmaceuticals, previously Australia's biggest manufacturer of
vitamins and natural remedies, could be on the way to recovery,
after the medicines agency confirmed a satisfactory audit has been
completed.
Finland's National Food Agency has banned several food supplement
makers from repeat marketing of unsubstantiated claims in a
clampdown on the use of health claims.
More than half the women participating in a trial in New Zealand
stopped taking HRT after last year's Women's Health study, report
researchers this week. Are natural supplements filling the gap?
Ingredients in Chinese herbal medicines may vary widely depending
on the manufacturer, said scientists speaking at a conference this
week. This could have implications for the safety and efficacy of
the medication, they suggest.
Twelve people in Japan suffered from liver injury after taking two
kinds of Chinese herbal to lose weight, according to a brief
journal communication today.
US-based National Enzyme Company has been granted a GMP Certificate
of manufacturing by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration
(TGA), allowing it to sell its enzyme and other herbal medicinal
products in Australia.
UK doctors are being encouraged to support the use of herbal
remedies by the country's herbalists, currently trying to increase
understanding of the power of plant-based remedies during Herbal
Medicine Awareness Week.
Mutual funds investing in health and biotechnology stocks have
provided little shelter from the bear market this year. Managers of
these funds say an aging population underpins demand for health
care products and services and the...
Comvita New Zealand has purchased a 50 per cent share in Api-Med
Medical Honey, a Cambridge, New Zealand-based joint venture set up
to develop medical grade honey products.
Products containing the herb Chelidonium majus should
include a warning label to consumers, Australia's Complementary
Medicines Evaluation Committee has advised.
Australia's health authorities are urging all companies still
storing recalled products made by Pan Pharmaceuticals to
immediately supply information on when the stock is being
destroyed, following mistaken sales of some Pan...
Talks on solutions to combat the growing global incidence of
chronic disease continued this week when officials from the World
Health Organisation (WHO) met in Geneva with representatives of
some 30 food, beverage and producer associations.
Swedish biotech company Probi has signed a licence agreement with
the Australian probiotics supplier Health World, giving the
Australian firm the right to market products containing one of
Probi's patented bacteria on the Australian...
The World Health Organisation (WHO) hosted the first of a series of
roundtable meetings with senior executives from the food industry
on Friday, to discuss ways of improving the global diet.
The Australian natural health industry is set to suffer as the
government warns people to avoid taking herbal and vitamin
supplements, following a major recall of products made by the
country's leading contract manufacturer.
The UK complementary medicines market has grown by almost 60 per
cent in the last five years to an estimated value of £130 million
(€187m), despite the impact of new legislation and negative
publicity regarding herbal remedies and...
The UK's Food Standards Agency has appointed three new specialist
members to the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer
Products and the Environment.
German pharmaceutical and ingredients group Boehringer Ingelheim
reported a healthy rise in profits for 2002 this week, with
directors describing its current status as "extremely sound and
robust".
Experts on medicinal plants are to gather in London next month to
discuss the potential and current hurdles for the herbal market and
the development of novel medicines.
A new US/UK collaboration will research ways of increasing yields
in a range of herbal extract products used for medicinal purposes,
in order to make them more readily available.
Changing lifestyles are driving self-medication in Spain, according
to a new report. More and more people are buying treatments over
the counter, particularly to help stop smoking, to help sleeping
and for eye care.
Scientists attending a conference on complementary medicine last
week said a ban on the controversial herbal medicine kava may be an
an over-reaction to an uncommon side effect.
Researchers at Oregon Health Science University and the National
College of Naturopathic Medicine in the US are launching a clinical
trial to determine whether a dietary supplement, derived from
Bacopa monniera or Brahmi, a plant...
PharmaLinks, a drug discovery initiative between the Universities
of Glasgow and Strathclyde in Scotland, has won a £1 million
research contract to develop an anti-obesity drug discovered at
Strathclyde's Institute for Drug Research.
Diet can have a major effect on the development of chronic
diseases, report researchers, seeking to confirm the value of
healthy eating guidelines. Findings confirm that eating a diet high
in wholegrains, fruit and veg and fish could...
Britain's leading supermarket group Tesco opened a store geared
solely to health and natural alternative products in London last
week. The Nutri Centre chain, in which Tesco has a majority share,
is designed to meet growing consumer...
Worldwide, healthy life expectancy can be increased by five to 10
years if governments and individuals make combined efforts against
major health risks, the World Health Organisation said in its
yearly report this week. It identifies...
An innovative approach to test Chinese herbal medicine using
Western research methods has been devised by oncologists in Hong
Kong to evaluate the role of herbal medicine in a conventional
treatment programme.
An ethicist in the Oregon Health & Science University Center
for Ethics in Health Care has published new guidelines for
conventionally trained doctors whose patients are interested in
using complementary and alternative medicine.
Nutrition counselling can make a difference in the health of
high-risk patients, yet it takes place in a minority of primary
care visits, according to a new study in the October issue of the
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
A White House health policy adviser on the American President's
Council of Economic Advisers has been chosen to fill the role,
empty since January 2001, of commissioner for the US Food and Drug
Administration.
A US paediatrician has developed a way of educating healthcare
professionals on herbal and dietary supplements via the Internet,
without taking up too much of their time, according to a study
published in the September issue of Academic...
An Australian professor urged consumers to take dietary supplements
with caution today after a study revealed the size of the growing
alternative medicine market in Australia.
AVVAA World Health Care Products wins patents for its Neuroskin
range of natural skin care products, and plans major international
rollout by year-end.
A survey of adult cancer patients in western Washington has found
that more than 70 per cent use alternative therapies and almost all
report substantial improvements in well-being as a result of the
treatments. Dietary supplements...
US biotech company Interleukin Genetics said it has signed an
agreement with an undisclosed major consumer products company to
develop and market proprietary genomics-based nutritional and
skincare products.
