Thanks for this. I hope the physicians in Congress (including my rep Greg Murphy MD) will oppose this power grab by Pharma. I remember being present at a presentation at an ophthalmology meeting in the mid 80s where a private practitioner was literally laughed off the stage for suggesting that nutrition and supplements were valuable tool…
Thanks for this. I hope the physicians in Congress (including my rep Greg Murphy MD) will oppose this power grab by Pharma. I remember being present at a presentation at an ophthalmology meeting in the mid 80s where a private practitioner was literally laughed off the stage for suggesting that nutrition and supplements were valuable tools in patients with macular degeneration. Now of course it has been proven that a certain combination of supplements definitely slows the progression of AMD. But that took many years of studying thousands of patients in double blind studies. Most supplement makers cannot afford the cost of such studies to meet FDA’s standards, which is the point. And even the “proven” formula doesn’t use the best form of zinc or all-natural Vitamin E.
As for asking your physician, good luck. Most had only one day of education if that regarding nutritional health and supplements. Most adhere to the maxim quoted many times in my medical school years that vitamin supplements only result in “very expensive urine.” A few do have enough interest to be open minded about the issue, but no drug reps are knocking on their doors promoting supplements. A good way to gauge your physician’s knowledge in the area is the following: if you have been prescribed a statin without being advised to also take CoQ 10, look elsewhere for advice. Similarly if you haven’t been advised to take Vitamin D daily, don’t waste your breath.
Thanks for this. I hope the physicians in Congress (including my rep Greg Murphy MD) will oppose this power grab by Pharma. I remember being present at a presentation at an ophthalmology meeting in the mid 80s where a private practitioner was literally laughed off the stage for suggesting that nutrition and supplements were valuable tools in patients with macular degeneration. Now of course it has been proven that a certain combination of supplements definitely slows the progression of AMD. But that took many years of studying thousands of patients in double blind studies. Most supplement makers cannot afford the cost of such studies to meet FDA’s standards, which is the point. And even the “proven” formula doesn’t use the best form of zinc or all-natural Vitamin E.
As for asking your physician, good luck. Most had only one day of education if that regarding nutritional health and supplements. Most adhere to the maxim quoted many times in my medical school years that vitamin supplements only result in “very expensive urine.” A few do have enough interest to be open minded about the issue, but no drug reps are knocking on their doors promoting supplements. A good way to gauge your physician’s knowledge in the area is the following: if you have been prescribed a statin without being advised to also take CoQ 10, look elsewhere for advice. Similarly if you haven’t been advised to take Vitamin D daily, don’t waste your breath.