The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Contaminated botanicals and dietary supplements

    Almost all supplements tested in this study contained measurable amounts of genistein and/or daidzein — known estrogenic agents.

    First, the details.

    • 8 botanical and 11 ephedra-containing dietary supplements were analyzed for the presence and concentration of 5 flavonoids (biochanin A, daidzein, formononetin, genistein, quercetin).

    And, the results.

    • Flavonoids were detected in all supplements tested.
    • The largest number of flavonoids (4) was found in Kava.
    • Almost all supplements contained measurable amounts of genistein and/or daidzein — known estrogenic agents — at up to 22 mg/day of isoflavone, per recommended daily dosage of supplement.

    The bottom line?
    The biggest problem confronting the supplement industry is that you never know what’s in the bottle.

    I should have kept a list of all the hysterical articles decrying the intrusion of the FDA in this area. Some pundits would rather expose themselves and their neighbors to mislabeled medicine than accept government oversight.

    Hopefully, the new role of the FDA to ensure good manufacturing standards will improve this situation.

    8/17/07 11:29 JR

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