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December 14, 2004

IN THIS ISSUE



KAT’S INTERVIEW: ELLIOT FREEMAN, R.PH. FROM CHICAGO

Member, Elliot Freeman, is a pharmacist who likes to do research so much that he created a newsletter specifically to support the drug information needs of hospital pharmacists. Based in the chilly Midwestern city of Chicago, Elliot shared:

“Pharmacists need to be able to communicate with physicians and the rest of the hospital staff about drugs and nutraceuticals. The medical community needs a pharmacist’s voice. But most pharmacists don’t have the time to spend reading all the medical journals. They’re certainly not paid to do this. For example, I currently read about 40 to 50 scientific journals and subscribe to a number of e-lists. I decided to package my research for hospital pharmacists in a newsletter for physicians some 15 years ago. My goal was to be paid for doing the kind of work I thought was important and really wanted to do. Fortunately, my idea caught on and I’ve had as many as 500 hospitals as subscribers.”

I asked Elliot if it was a hard to get pharmacy departments to sign up for his newsletter.

“Not really. When a pharmacy director tries to publish a newsletter internally, it’s extremely expensive and often is left to a student to do, since more seasoned pharmacists don’t have the time to write.”

I then asked how pharmacy had changed over the years.

“Pharmacists are more involved in patient care than ever. Once upon a time, it was a ‘count and pour’ kind of job filling prescriptions. Now, pharmacists regularly make recommendations to physicians. I actually enjoy being in contact with physicians at the hospital where I work part-time, and most of my recommendations are accepted.”

I was curious as to how Elliot became interested in integrating nutritional approaches into his practice.

“My wife took black cohosh back in the days when it wasn’t that well known. It helped her with hot flashes and mood swings. I got an educational grant for my newsletter to go out and research and evaluate dietary supplements. Ever since, I’ve spent a lot of time reading the orthomolecular literature. Every physician ought to know a whole lot more about the range of dietary supplements available.”

This seemed like a good time to ask about Elliot’s philosophy on health.

“My philosophy is simply that health requires an ongoing, active learning process. It’s sad. Most people, including many healthcare professionals, do not have the latest information on optimal health. Half don’t take the time to learn, and it seems that almost as many have bad information.”

“For example, people assume that ‘natural’ means safe or non-allergenic. In one case that I recall, a patient at the hospital had an allergic reaction to some purple dye in an I.V. preparation and a similar reaction apparently from a dye in a desert. I was asked by the physician to assess whether there was a correlation between the two incidents. There was! At any rate, after some research into the ingredients, it turned out the dye in the dessert was completely natural, from purple beetles that are commonly used to make dyes used in foods. The lesson is that people have to be knowledgeable about food labeling practices and that ‘natural’ doesn’t mean safe, only non-synthetic.”

Elliot is quite the aficionado on vitamin D and vitamin D deficiencies. It all started with an article in the Archives of Internal Medicine, which documented a case of five patients who were hospitalized – in wheelchairs or bed-ridden -- for peripheral myopathy, or non-specific musculo-skeletal pain. He described the intervention with vitamin D:

“Each of the patients was found to be deficient in vitamin D and given large doses of vitamin D as part of formal therapy. Within 4-8 weeks, they were able to walk again! In each case, their debilitated state was attributed to some other condition. Their quality of life would have been awful without the vitamin D therapy, which cost only pennies, by the way.”

Elliot went on:

“I started reading more about vitamin D deficiency. The Institute of Medicine says the normal range is between 200 and 600 IU daily based on age, but for most people, is that really enough? You see, ‘normal’ does not mean optimal. Most of the population in northern climates, are ‘below optimal’ with regard to their vitamin D status, and a large proportion of sub- populations, particularly dark-skinned people, have been found to be vitamin D deficient when tested for 25-hydroxy-vitamin D, the ingredient that is converted to active vitamin D in the body.”

“Vitamin D deficiency may be approaching epidemic proportions for several reasons. First, vitamin D is not found in foods normally consumed by most people. Vitamin D was added to milk for this reason, and milk is being consumed less and less, especially in younger populations. Second, the usual mechanism for obtaining healthy Vitamin D levels is the sun exposure and many people are scared to be in the sun and use sunscreen, which blocks vitamin D synthesis in the body.

Elliot is “on” to something vis-a-vis vitamin D. In the September/October 2004 issue of “Alternative Therapies Journal,” there was a substantive article titled: “The Clinical Importance of Vitamin D (Cholecalciferol): A Paradigm Shift with Implications for All Healthcare Providers.”

Phew! Research titles can be so dreadfully long. Regardless, the article was written by a two MDs, a DC, and an ND, who note that:

  • Vitamin D is both a vitamin and a pro-hormone
  • The body produces between 4,000 and 20,000 IU of vitamin D with full-body sun exposure in equatorial latitudes.
  • In at least two research studies, there appears to be an inverse relationship between sun exposure and cancer mortality.
  • Clinical research shows that high vitamin D levels can provide protection against diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, depression, several autoimmune diseases, and cancers of the breast, prostate, and colon.
  • Vitamin D has immunoregulatory capabilities, which supports reduction of inflammation.

There was one section that made me hiss, namely the article’s admonition that “supplements should be tested for potency,” since one study by Heaney et al found that a “well-known company’s brand contained only 83% of the stated value of vitamin D!”

Good grief. Vitamin D is cheap. There’s no excuse for not meeting label claims on any supplement, but you wouldn’t expect to ever worry about the lowly vitamins and minerals testing out at proper dosages. At least our Co-op manufacturers know they can’t get away with that kind of nonsense!

In fact, check our quality Vitamin D products: Multi Vites and Sam’s Antioxidant Plus D.

Before I skulk away, back to my interview with Elliot.

“Similar to the conversation you had with Dr. Rodier on cellular communication, deficiencies in vitamin D can disturb cellular communication, enabling disease to set in. Deficiencies are actually pretty widespread.”

On the topic of testing for vitamin D levels, Elliot added:

“Just know that if you have a lab test, it will be easy for your physician to consider your results ‘normal’ and ‘healthy’ unless he or she has kept up with the latest research.”

On an entirely different subject, here we go with the standard question about kats and humor. ^..^

Elliot has been a long-term subscriber to our newsletter and had this to say:

“The kat stuff adds a little personality and that’s better than no personality. I basically like your prices and your independent testing program, but I’m cool with getting emails from a kat.”

So far so good! Of course, I intentionally skew my results by refusing to interview ornery types without a sense of humor!

Meanwhile, if you work in a hospital and would like to see the hospital pharmacy subscribe to Elliot’s newsletter (or know someone who might be interested), send a note to: HerbPharmacist@aol.com.

In the subject, write “Hospital Newsletter”.

Stay tuned for my next interview with Dr. Jim Overall of the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City -- where they are pioneering integrative health care programs for veterans dealing with chronic pain.

HEALTH IN THE NEWS

Now, enough work -- time for some treats! ^..^

Still purringly yours,

Guido


Guido Housemouser (The Enforcer) ^..^
Chief Kat and Community Manager
Our Health Co-op
931 Village Blvd, Suite 905-480
West Palm Beach FL 33409

Making Health Affordable Together


 
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