In This Issue:

This Week on PeoplesPharmacy.com
Featured Q&A
Featured Home Remedy
The FDA Has Computer Problems
Many Kids Get Untested Drugs
The More Drugs You Take The More Mistakes You Make
A Little Wine Prolongs Life
Treat Depression And Reduce Alcohol Abuse
Pregnant Women Need More Vitamin D
Driving And Talking Bring Fines In UK

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Best Choices from The People's Pharmacy

We are pleased to announce our new book, Best Choices from The People's Pharmacy. Best Choices From the People's Pharmacy is a how-to for consumers trying to work out which treatments, including diet, home remedies, dietary supplements and drugs, are best for what ails them. Click the link below to purchase a copy at a discount of $21.95 plus $5 shipping and handling!

Note: We are shipping single book orders Media Mail with an expected transit time of 3-9 days from shipment, and orders for two or more books by FedEx Ground. Shipping and handling is $5 per book. We also include a FREE copy of Chocolate without Guilt, regularly $14.95, autographed by Terry, with orders for three of more copies of Best Choices shipped to the same address.

http://secure.peoplespharmacy.com/PPcart.asp?pg=products&specific=joppfog0

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This Week on PeoplesPharmacy.com:

Popular diet books have dispensed conflicting advice for years--eat less fat, or eat less carbohydrate. Finally, a carefully designed study shows which diet plan is better: Atkins, Ornish, Zone or the health professionals' cautious recommendations. The lead investigator of the A to Z study explains their results. Also, what other options besides aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen should people consider for arthritis and other chronic pain? Finally, the People's Pharmacy herb expert, Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, discusses the benefits of culinary herbs and spices.
Read a short excerpt of the program or order it on CD by clicking the link below:

http://secure.peoplespharmacy.com/PPcart.asp?pg=products&specific=jorpqrg4

Our newspaper columns this week address erythromycin and Darvocet interactions, the cleanliness of dogs, potential danger to boys from lavendar and tee tree oil, dietary remedies for high cholesterol, and Americans' attitudes towards sexuality:

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/editorial/sex_under_siege_in_america.asp

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/pharmacy_qa/doggy_diswasher_disgusts_guest.asp

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/herb_home_remedy_qa/coconut_may_ease_diarrhea.asp

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Featured Q&A

My husband has always had trouble with foul-smelling intestinal gas. Doctors haven't been able to help, and it is very embarrassing.

First he tried activated charcoal capsules. It was a little tricky to time them around his prescription medicines since charcoal interferes with absorption. They did help but only a little. Then he tried Mylanta Gas. It worked better but even at the maximum dose was still not perfect.

When I read the letter in your column about fennel seed, I bought a bottle of ground fennel seed capsules. It works much better than either of the other alternatives. He needs fewer fennel capsules than he used to take of over-the-counter drugs, and the problem is rarely noticeable. Others may also find this approach helpful.

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Featured Home Remedy

Q. For several years, my wife suffered with gum disease. Her gums hurt constantly, and she got her teeth cleaned three times a year to try to combat the pain.

Occasionally, she would get toothaches, and the dentist would take X-rays. But although suspicious shadows appeared in different places in her mouth, there was never one particular tooth identified as the cause of the problem.

You suggested that taking Coenzyme Q10 might help her. Within two weeks of starting on 50 mg of CoQ each day, her gums stopped hurting. She went back to having her teeth cleaned only twice a year and no longer has any mysterious toothaches. She has remained pain-free for over a year and a half.

While this is not scientific proof that CoQ works for gum disease, we thought our experience might benefit someone else.

A. Coenzyme Q10 is a vitamin-like compound that plays a vital role in many biochemical reactions. It has a reputation for being helpful in periodontal disease as well as for congestive heart failure. We are delighted your wife got such great benefit.

You can read more home remedies on our website:
http://www.peoplespharmacy.org/archives/home_remedies/index.asp

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Health Headlines:

The FDA Has Computer Problems
The Food and Drug Administration has been criticized for failing to detect serious medication safety problems. Now a new report published in the Wall Street Journal suggests that the computer system the agency relies on to track drug problems is dysfunctional. The FDA is planning to replace its antiquated equipment and software with a new system, but agency bungling has delayed implementation for at least four years. It is now expected to go online in 2009. Consultants from the Breckenridge Institute who analyzed the issue estimate that FDA safety officers waste 45 minutes a day as a result of computer snags. The FDA responded to the report that it commissioned by saying that the current adverse event reporting system is working well despite exploding amounts of data. But the consultants laid the blame on a culture of bureaucratic infighting and inadequate leadership.
[Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2007]

Many Kids Get Untested Drugs
Children are often treated with medicines that have only been approved for adults. Experts recognized that this is a common occurrence, but they did not fully appreciate how widespread this practice is. A new study of more than 350,000 patients (18 years old or younger) carried out at 31 children's hospital reveals some shocking statistics. Nearly 80 percent were given medications that have not been tested and approved for use in children. This off-label prescribing is legal but poses potential problems. Children are not just mini-adults. They can react differently to many medicines and may be more vulnerable to toxicity.
[Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, March, 2007]
http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/161/3/282

The More Drugs You Take The More Mistakes You Make
At the other end of the age spectrum, older people are also at risk. When a doctor changes an older person's drug regimen, the patient is more likely to make a serious mistake in taking his medications. Investigators in Worcester, Massachusetts, followed 30,000 Medicare patients for a year. They detected 129 adverse drug events resulting from patient errors. Two-fifths of these problems occurred soon after the doctor had made an adjustment to the dose or timing of the medicine. Patients taking three or four medications were twice as likely as those on one or two drugs to make such an error. The scientists urge older patients to take all their drugs to doctor visits, have them reviewed, and ask questions to make sure they understand exactly how to take them properly.
[Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Feb. 2007]
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01047.x

A Little Wine Prolongs Life
Dutch researchers report that modest wine drinking may prolong men's lives. For four decades, investigators followed more than 1,000 men in Zutphen, a city in the Netherlands. Those who averaged about half a glass of wine a day had the lowest mortality levels. They lived nearly four years longer than those who did not consume alcohol and two years longer than those who drank spirits or beer. The researchers emphasize that heavy alcohol consumption is deleterious to health.
[American Heart Association conference in Orlando, Florida, March, 2007]

Treat Depression And Reduce Alcohol Abuse
Depressed men tend to drink more alcohol than men in good mental health. A Canadian study has found, however, that if they are treated with antidepressants, men are less likely to abuse alcohol. Researchers surveyed some 14,000 adults and found that antidepressant use had no impact on women's alcohol consumption. The investigators have no explanation for why men seem to drink less during treatment compared to women, who do not change their drinking behavior.
[Canadian Medical Association Journal, February 27, 2007]
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/176/5/633

Pregnant Women Need More Vitamin D
Pregnant women in North America appear not to be getting enough vitamin D. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh tested 200 pregnant black women and 200 pregnant white women along with the newborn babies. They found that 80 percent of the African American mothers had too little vitamin D in their systems. Half of the white mothers also tested low. This, despite the fact that 90 percent of these women were taking pre-natal vitamins. The overwhelming majority of the newborn infants had inadequate levels of vitamin D circulating in their bloodstreams. The investigators were astonished that the rates were so high. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with conditions as diverse as bone problems, cancer, asthma, diabetes and heart disease.
[Journal of Nutrition, Feb. 2007]
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/137/2/447

Driving And Talking Bring Fines In UK
British regulators are cracking down on mobile phone use while driving. A new law imposes a fine of 60 pounds, about $116 dollars for any driver caught talking on a cell phone. They also get three penalty points on their license. These strict measures will encourage British drivers to switch their phones off before turning on the ignition. The goal is to reduce distractions that can lead to accidents.
[The British Medical Association]
http://www.bma.org.uk/pressrel.nsf/wlu/STRE-6YSKFM?OpenDocument&vw=wfmms