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Tokyo — Japanese health supplement maker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said Friday it was probing 76 more deaths possibly linked to its tablets containing red yeast rice, meant to lower cholesterol. It deepens a scandal that erupted earlier this year when the company said it was looking into five deaths potentially linked to the over-the-counter products after dozens of customers reported kidney problems... Fermented with a mould culture, red yeast rice, or "benikoji," has been used in food, alcoholic drinks and folk medicines for centuries around East Asia. "Even if the direct cause of hospitalisation or death was not kidney-related disease,...

Americans spend billions of dollars every year on dietary supplements that claim to promote almost every aspect of our health. But how much do you know about the supplements you’re taking? A recent government study found that nearly 60 percent of adults take vitamins, minerals, fish oil, herbal capsules, melatonin, probiotics and other types of dietary supplements.

The NYPD is cracking down on “flex offenders” – warning workout warriors on the force that they could be fired if they take what they believe is a legal, over-the-counter muscle-building supplement that leads to a failed drug test, The Post has learned. Cops “are responsible for anything ingested, injected or introduced into their bodies,” declares the directive fired off on Dec. 26 to all members with the subject line, “Possession or ingestion of anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and nutritional supplements.” The memo doesn’t list any specific brand or ingredient, only noting supplements may include “prohibited, banned, or illegal...

For patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), doxycycline is associated with a reduced risk for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), according to a study. Ashley L. O'Leary, Pharm.D., from the Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System in Buffalo, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis in hospitalized patients in Veterans Affairs Hospitals across the United States to examine whether doxycycline is associated with reduced CDI risk. During the study timeframe, about 156,107 hospitalized patients received care at a Veterans Affairs Hospital and were diagnosed with CAP. The researchers found that compared with azithromycin, doxycycline used with ceftriaxone for the treatment of pneumonia...

A team of researchers argue that vitamin supplements can help prevent secondary strokes. They also advocate for the value of new technologies in eye research to verify these findings. Homocysteine is an amino acid associated with stroke and secondary stroke when elevated above normal levels. B vitamins and folate, also known as vitamin B9, can help lower levels of homocysteine and stroke, according to a peer-reviewed editorial. Elevated homocysteine is the result of genetic mutations or inadequate stores of vitamins B6, B12, folate and riboflavin (B2). Lowering it is relatively inexpensive because it can be achieved through vitamin supplementation. The...

About 800 million children have blood lead levels that affect their brain. Guilarte has been among the first to document what's happening at the cellular level of the brain that triggers a cascade of lifelong consequences—from learning difficulties and lower IQ scores to the risk of psychiatric diseases and drug abuse in adulthood. Can the damage lead has done to their children ever be undone? Decades of research has brought Guilarte and his collaborators closer to an answer. They've identified a certain flavonoid, a class of nutrients present in fruits and vegetables, that reverses some of the negative effects of...

New research has revealed a potentially important role ginger supplements can play in controlling inflammation for people living with autoimmune diseases. The research focused on studying the impact of ginger supplementation on a type of white blood cell called the neutrophil. The study was especially interested in neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation, also known as NETosis, and what it may mean for controlling inflammation. The study found ginger consumption by healthy individuals makes their neutrophils more resistant to NETosis. This is important because NETs are microscopic spider web-like structures that propel inflammation and clotting, which contribute to many autoimmune diseases,...

UCI researchers have found that a simple sugar, N-acetylglucosamine, reduces multiple inflammation and neurodegeneration markers in people who suffer from multiple sclerosis (MS). In addition, they also found this dietary supplement improved neurological function in 30% of patients. A major issue with current therapies in MS is the inability to treat chronic-active neuroinflammation in the brain and the associated failure to repair the loss of myelin that covers and protects axons, the electrical wires of the brain. Over time, this leads to permanent nerve cell damage and slow progressive loss of neurological function in patients. "Our previous studies in mice...

Taking vitamin or mineral supplements could be feeding tumours and allowing them to grow, suggests new research. Common antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and selenium and zinc when taken additionally can all cause blood vessels in cancer to grow. The discovery has come as a surprise as antioxidants were believed to be protective. The researchers said that natural levels in food were fine but if people take supplements containing antioxidants as well then the extra amount can fuel tumour growth. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, was carried out by the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. It...

Canadian researchers have identified a new role for vitamin K and gamma-carboxylation in beta cells and their potentially protective role in diabetes. The study explains, at least in part, how vitamin K helps prevent diabetes, and could lead to new therapeutic applications for type 2 diabetes. Vitamin K is a micronutrient known for its role in blood clotting, in particular in gamma-carboxylation, an enzymatic reaction essential to the process. It has been suspected for several years that this vitamin, and thus gamma-carboxylation, may have other functions as well. Several studies suggest a link between a reduced intake of vitamin K...

Vitamin D intake could reduce cancer mortality in the population by 12 percent—provided the vitamin is taken daily. This was the result of an evaluation of 14 studies of the highest quality conducted at the German Cancer Research Center with a total of almost 105,000 participants. Vitamin D deficiency is widespread worldwide and is particularly common among cancer patients. Averaged over the year, the vitamin D blood levels of about 15 percent of German adults are below the threshold for a pronounced vitamin D deficiency. In contrast, in a study of colorectal cancer patients, researchers diagnosed vitamin D3 deficiency in...

Amazon—the vast global internet enterprise that single-handedly shuttered countless smaller retailers—is putting the interests of big pharma ahead of the health and well-being of its customers. In a move that surely pleases the FDA and pharmaceutical companies, Amazon decided last month to no longer sell nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), a molecule naturally occurring in all life forms and vital in longevity. On the cutting edge of lifespan research, Amazon’s decision to remove NMN products is unrelated to safety issues. Instead, it hinges on a recent FDA decision announcing that because NMN is under investigation by big pharma as a potential new...

Vitamin D Supplement Sunshine A study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring found that taking vitamin D was linked to a longer period of living without dementia. The group that took vitamin D supplements also had 40% fewer dementia diagnoses. People get vitamin D from sun exposure, foods (such as fatty fish), and supplements. Taking vitamin D supplements may help ward off dementia, according to a new, large-scale study. Researchers at the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute in Canada and the University of Exeter in the UK explored the relationship between vitamin D supplementation and...

A recent study revealed that low levels of ergothioneine (ET) in blood plasma may predict an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. It was only in 2005 when scientists discovered a transporter specific for ET that facilitates the uptake and accumulation of ET in the body. Prof Halliwell demonstrated that ET is avidly retained in the human body following oral supplementation, and in preclinical models, ET is transported to almost all organs, although higher levels can be found in specific cells and tissues such as the blood cells, eyes, liver, lungs, and even the brain. Earlier work demonstrated the...

Healthy diets are rich in antioxidants like amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C, but exactly how beneficial these micronutrients are for cardiovascular health has long been controversial. Now a new meta-analysis provides some clarity. Researchers reviewed 884 studies available on micronutrients taken as dietary supplements. They identified several micronutrients that do reduce cardiovascular risk—as well as others that offer no benefit or even have a negative effect. "We developed a comprehensive, evidence-based integrative map to characterize and quantify micronutrient supplements' potential effects on cardiometabolic outcomes," said Simin Liu, MD. Antioxidant supplementation has long been thought to play a...

There may be a potential role for nutritional supplements in the treatment of hair loss, according to a review published online. Lara Drake, from the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, and colleagues conducted a systematic review to examine and compile the findings of all dietary and nutritional interventions for treatment of hair loss in individuals without known baseline nutritional deficiency. Data were included from 30 articles: 17 randomized clinical trials (RCTs), 11 clinical studies (non-RCTs), and two case series studies. The researchers found a potential benefit of Viviscal, Nourkrin, Nutrafol, Lambdapil, Pantogar, capsaicin and isoflavone, omegas 3 and...

A study of more than 300,000 adults in the United Kingdom has found support for a causal relationship between vitamin D deficiency and mortality. These findings suggest a need for public health strategies to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D in the population. Low vitamin D status has been linked to increased mortality, but mortality in the context of vitamin D deficiency remains unclear. Randomized controlled trials either fail to recruit people with severe deficiency or, because of ethical reasons, are prevented from doing so. Researchers conducted a nonlinear mendelian randomization study of 307,601 participants in the U.K. Biobank to...

Could taking a daily multivitamin help maintain cognitive health with aging and possibly prevent cognitive decline? According to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, taking a daily supplement may improve cognition in older adults, but additional studies are needed to confirm these findings before any health recommendations are made. The study also showed that daily use of a cocoa extract supplement does not benefit cognition. According to the Alzheimer's Association, more than 6.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, and 1 in 3 seniors die with...

The Age-Related Eye Disease Studies (AREDS and AREDS2) established that dietary supplements can slow progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness in older Americans. In a new report, scientists analyzed 10 years of AREDS2 data. They show that the AREDS2 formula, which substituted antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin for beta-carotene, not only reduces risk of lung cancer due to beta-carotene, but is also more effective at reducing risk of AMD progression, compared to the original formula. AMD is a degenerative disease of the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. Progressive death of...

Here's a good reason for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to eat their fruits and vegetables: It may help reduce inattention issues, a new study suggests. As part of a larger study, researchers asked parents of 134 kids with ADHD symptoms to complete a detailed questionnaire about the typical foods the children ate, including portion sizes, over a 90-day period. Another questionnaire asked parents to rate symptoms of inattention—a hallmark of ADHD—in their kids, such as having trouble staying focused, not following instructions, difficulty remembering things, and difficulty regulating emotions. Results showed that kids who consumed more fruits...