Creatine supplements have become controversial in recent
years, thanks to a large group of sports writers who are willing
to sensationalize any subject if they think it will appeal to
their readers’ biases. Creatine is an amino acid made by the
body on a daily basis but in differing amounts in different
people. Muscle cells maintain a reservoir of creatine and its
derivative, phosphocreatine; the phosphocreatine reservoir can
be drawn upon rapidly when muscles contract. The phosphate
in phosphocreatine is used to make ATP, the biological world’s
main energy transfer
molecule.
Substances called benzopyrenes are formed when organic
materials are
burned. They are highly carcinogenic and are considered major causes of
the lung cancers that result from tobacco smoking. They are also
suspected causes of other cancers resulting from the consumption of
barbecued, roasted, or toasted food.
Vitamin D was
discovered and characterized in the 1920s and 1930s, and its role in
bone metabolism was appreciated even then. But its role in preventing cancer and its
other benefits were only realized much later.
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration has many critics, but none are
more angry than those who have lost loved ones — or who are about to
lose their own lives — because the FDA has blocked their access to
life-saving treatments. Now these critics have a new and unexpected
ally: the United States Navy.
Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) is a mixture of omega-3 and other
fatty acids extracted from the seeds of Oenothera biennis and
related species. EPO was developed as a supplement in the 1980s and its
significance increases with each passing year.
A list of recognized medical applications for this supplement
includes:
A group of researchers
announced in February that multivitamins do not reduce the risk of
cancer and cardiovascular disease.
They reached this conclusion after performing statistical manipulations
on data collected during the 1990s in a large clinical
study called The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI).
The connection between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of
acquiring Multiple Sclerosis was discovered more than 30 years
ago.
Scientists had noticed that the incidence of MS correlated positively
with geographical latitude and negatively with the
amount of vitamin D in the diet. The latitude effect was also
explainable in terms of vitamin D, since the body synthesizes
vitamin D in the skin in response to sunlight, which is more
plentiful near the equator than at higher latitudes.
Huperzine-A (HupA), a substance found in the club moss Huperzia
serrata, has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. In the
1980s Chinese researchers began investigating HupA as a treatment
for Alzheimer’s Disease, and in 2003 it was approved for this
purpose by China’s State Pharmaceutical Administration.
N-acetylcysteine is a derivative of the amino acid L-cysteine
and is used as a supplement because L-cysteine itself has too short a
shelf-life and is poorly absorbed. The body uses L-cysteine
as a component of proteins, and as a raw material for making
the antioxidant glutathione.
A feature article in a recent issue of Science News1
presents a very readable history and overview of the herbal supplement Rhodiola
— an extract of the subarctic plant Rhodiola rosea.
Rhodiola has many reported applications, including:
