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Category Archives: Herbs and Supplements
The Myth of Antioxidants?
I have written often about the popular notion that vitamins, dietary supplements, herbs, and other things which can be identified as “antioxidants” based on in vitro laboratory studies must automatically be good for our pets. This sort of simplistic reasoning … Continue reading
Supraglan Replaced By Adrenal Harmony Gold: Different Ingredients, Same Empty Promises
Note. Updated with correction Jan. 30, 2013 (see below) One of the most widely read, and controversial, reviews I have written was for an herbal combination product called Supraglan which was marketed to treat hyperadrenocorticism, also known as Cushing’s Disease … Continue reading
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Health & Human Services Inspector General Finds Dietary Supplement Companies Make Misleading, Unsupported Claims and Ignore FDA Regulations
I have discussed the bizarre and ineffectual regulatory scheme for dietary supplements in detail previously. The stunningly misnamed Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) basically exempts any product called a “supplement” from any meaningful regulation to ensure safety or … Continue reading
HopeScience Vet’s EFAC for Periodontal Disease and Arthritis
My attention was recently drawn to another dietary supplement product with pretty dramatic claims, this time for treating both oral disease (gingivitis and periodontal disease) and joint disease (osteoarthritis). As usual, the company web site and promotional materials are unequivocal … Continue reading
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Cranberry Products for Prevention of Urinary Tract Infections: An Update of the Evidence
I have written previously about the rationale and evidence concerning the use of cranberry products to prevent or treat urinary tract infections. In my summary, I concluded: There is weak theoretical justification for using cranberry products for urinary tract infections … Continue reading
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Zoopharmacognosy–Do Animals Self-Medicate?
Before becoming a veterinarian, I did a master’s degree in animal behavior, working primarily with chimpanzees. These are fascinating creatures, with many of the cognitive abilities of a young human child (and with a similar emotional temperament as well, which … Continue reading
Posted in General, Herbs and Supplements
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Magic Mushrooms–Can a mushroom-derived compound slow the progression of cancer in dogs?
There is a recent study out which looks at the potential for a chemical derived from mushrooms to slow the progression of one type of cancer in dogs. It has both strengths and weaknesses, and it is a nice example … Continue reading
Posted in Herbs and Supplements
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Herbs and Supplements for Pets: What Is a Vet to do?
I’ve written extensively about herbal remedies and dietary supplements both because these seem among the most likely to be useful of CAM therapies and also because they are widely used despite the lack of good evidence that they are safe … Continue reading
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From SBM: Alternative Medicine Claims to “Individualize” Therapy, but Does It?
Posted today on the Science-Based Medicine Blog Testing the “Individualization” of CAM Treatments One of the common claims of alternative medicine practitioners is that they individualize their treatment while conventional medicine treats all patients the same. This is nonsense … Continue reading
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FDA Finds Widespread and Serious Violations of Safety and Quality Control Regulations for Dietary Supplements
Despite the possibility that some dietary supplements could have real health benefits, there are many reasons to be skeptical of the safety and value of most supplements on the market. Most have not been tested scientifically to an extent that … Continue reading
