Researchers from Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel have reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry (Vol 163, pp. 1098-1100) that omega-3 fatty acids could help children suffering from depression, a condition that “may be more common than previously thought”. Studies reporting positive effects of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation have been increasing recently. Hopefully this reflects genuine progress in scientific discovery and not merely increased funding from related industy sources. The studies have shown benefits for children with learning difficulties, behavioural problems or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Liver cancer is the sixth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world, and third most common cause of death from cancer, according to Cancer Research UK. However, it is true to say the cancer remains relatively rare, with 18,500 new cases in the US every year, and about 3,000 in the UK. Researchers led by Hannu Mykkänen from the University of Kuopio claim a daily supplement of probiotics could reduce the risk of liver cancer caused by fungal toxins in foods.

The research, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Vol. 83, pp. 1199-1203), involved 90 male student volunteers from the Guangdong province where food ingested exposure to aflotoxins is said to be common. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial design was employed with two parallel groups including randomly assigned volunteers to either the control or intervention groups. The intervention involved two probiotic capsules per day containing a mixture of the strains Lactobacillus rhamnosus LC705 and Propionibacterium freudenreichii ssp. shermanii. The control subjects received a cellulose placebo.

A report published in the March issue of Geriatric Nursing found that older women mixing herbal and prescribed medication could be risking their health. The study, at the University of Florida College of Nursing, looked at 58 women over the age of 65 who were taking both herbal and over-the-counter prescription medication. Seventy-four percent of the study's 58 participants were found to have a moderate or high-risk drug interaction.

Controversy over drug-herb interactions has come hand-in-hand with the growing popularity of herbal medicines and related nutraceuticals. The US retail market for dietary supplements was worth $8.3bn in 2005, a growth of six percent over 2004. What makes critics wary is that such supplements do not require pre-market approval in the US.

Studies presented at the North American Research Conference on Complementary and Integrative Medicine point to the medical establishment's growing interest in alternative therapies. I personally believe they have few remaining options in the matter. They have tried to deride and to undermine and have attempted to usurp control. With the medical establishment's credibility at quite low levels and countless satisfied consumers of alternative medicine, their attempts have all failed. They are not yet ready to let go of tactics that seek to undermine or control but they increasingly seem to recognize that a more successful future rests in embracing alternative therapies, at least at some level.

In a speech on May 23, 2006 Prince Charles told the World Health Organisation in Geneva that alternative medicine should have a more prominent place in health care. The Prince urged every country to come up with a plan to integrate conventional and alternative medicine into the mainstream. Prince Charles heads his own Foundation for Integrated Health.

A report published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine held that use of herbal medicines in the UK is amongst the lowest in Europe, and few GPs prescribe them. However other European countries have significant alternative medicine users.

A new study, part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), followed 521,457 subjects in 10 European countries with an average age of 52. It has been described as the largest cohort study on fruit and vegetable intake and the incidence of stomach (gastric) cancer in Western countries and the first to look at adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus. The findings indicate that garlic and onions could help protect against stomach cancer but total fruit and vegetable intake has no benefit for this disease.

These findings are quite interesting. They appear in the International Journal of Cancer (Vol. 118, pp. 2559-2566) where lead author, Carlos Gonzalez, states: “We observed no evidence of association with fresh fruit intake or with total vegetable intake, even though a protective effect of total vegetables and onion and garlic was suggested for intestinal [cancer].”
 
Usual dietary intake over the previous year was measured using a country-specific validated questionnaire. Most countries used a self-administered technique with questionnaires typically containing between 88 and 266 food items.