In the News

Heart Failure as Type 2 Diabetes Complication Deserves More Scrutiny, Panel of Endocrinologists Declares

Biotics Research Comments as FDA Addresses Fraudulent Claims

EuroPharma Supports ABC Educational Mission through Turmeric Adoption

Retired US Navy Veteran Comments on Military Microbiome Study

Heart Failure as Type 2 Diabetes Complication Deserves More Scrutiny, Panel of Endocrinologists Declares

While much attention is given to the microvascular effects of type 2 diabetes (T2D) – diabetic retinopathy, kidney disease, nerve damage – and the macrovascular consequences that include stroke, heart attacks and peripheral vascular disease, there is a seventh and more sinister complication of diabetes that demands greater attention: heart failure leading to increased mortality.

That was the message delivered today by a trio of specialists during an in-depth symposium presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists’ 26^th Annual Scientific and Clinical Congress.

In the session “Heart Failure: The Frequent, Forgotten and Often Fatal Complication of Type 2 Diabetes,” Dr. David S.H. Bell, who has performed clinical trials on the effects of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) in diabetes patients with diastolic dysfunction, suggested the available evidence should propel endocrinologists to become more rigorous in screening for the complication with symptomatic patients and consider treating it to mitigate the poor outcomes often seen in these patients.

“It’s not widely realized how common this condition is,” Dr. Bell noted. “Somewhere between 40 and 45 percent of people in this country with diabetes suffer heart failure versus 12 percent of non-diabetics. And depending on the degree of glycemic control, the worse the mortality is.”

He highlighted studies that examined the complex effect of diabetes and contributing factors to the three causes of the heart failure, including coronary artery disease, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH, which occurs in approximately 65 percent of people with type 2 diabetes), and diabetic cardiomyopathy, a distinct pathology that is closely associated with the microvascular complications of the diabetes.

Paradoxically, while anti-heart failure therapies such as angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and others work similarly well in individuals with diabetes as compared to those without the disease, the glucose-lowering drug dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors saxagliptin has been found to cause an increase in heart failure in diabetes patients, said the second presenter of the session, researcher Dr. Richard E. Gilbert, PhD, FRCPC.

Considered an expert in the knowledge of kidney disease and diabetes as major, independent risk factors for the development of heart failure, Dr. Gilbert highlighted the relation between glycemic control and heart failure risk, focusing on the state of knowledge regarding the detrimental and beneficial effects of the various types of anti-hyperglycemic drugs.

Dr. Aaron Vinik, PhD, FCP, MACP, FACE, presented details regarding his research on autonomic neuropathy, one of the most overlooked T2D complications contributing to the high incidence of heart failure in the diabetic patients, in which damage to the body’s blood vessels extends to those involuntary nerves that stimulate the heart and blood vessels, resulting in heart rate and vascular abnormalities.

Autonomic system dysfunction is a predictor of cardiovascular risk and sudden death in T2D patients, but also occurs in prediabetes, and thus offers opportunities for early intervention, Dr. Vinik noted. Important advances in technology during the past decade now make it possible to identify these early stages of autonomic dysfunction with the use of objective standardized measures, allowing earlier intervention when reversal of the condition is still possible.

Biotics Research Comments as FDA Addresses Fraudulent Claims

Rosenberg, Texas – May 3, 2017 – The FDA recently conducted an investigation of numerous websites searching for dietary supplement companies that are making cancer claims. The investigation resulted in the issuance of 14 Warning Letters. Following the Warning Letters the FDA issued a Press Release prominently featuring pictures of products for which cancer claims had been made. One of the featured products in the Press Release, which was picked up by numerous media outlets, was Biotics Research’s Dysbiocide®.

It should be emphasized that Biotics Research Corporation did not receive a Warning Letter and has not been accused of making any inappropriate claims for its products, including Dysbiocide®.

The objectionable claims were not made by Biotics Research or any of its regional distributors but by a customer who allegedly made cancer claims for the product on its website. Of course making a claim for the cure, prevention, treatment, mitigation or diagnosis of cancer is clearly not allowed under the current law. Immediately upon learning of the dissemination of these inappropriate claims Biotics Research’s distributor terminated its relationship with the customer and has refused any further sales of Biotics Research’s products. If you have any questions regarding this matter contact Denis DeLuca (800-231-5777) at Biotics Research Corporation.

About Biotics Research Corporation
Biotics Research Corporation has been a leading manufacturer of specially designed nutritional supplements available through healthcare professionals for forty years. Our mission remains constant: to be the benchmark of excellence in nutritional science, technology and service, providing the clinician with reliable, innovative products of superior quality as well as the highest level of customer service. Visit www.BioticsResearch.com.

EuroPharma Supports ABC Educational Mission through Turmeric Adoption

The American Botanical Council (ABC) welcomes EuroPharma to the growing list of Adopt-an-Herb supporters though its adoption of turmeric (Curcuma longa). By adopting turmeric, EuroPharma helps ABC expand its nonprofit educational mission and keep its unique HerbMedPro database updated with the latest scientific and clinical research on this highly popular medicinal plant.

HerbMedPro is a comprehensive, interactive online database that provides access to important scientific and clinical research data on the uses and health effects of approximately 250 herbs.

ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal said: "All of us at ABC are deeply grateful to Terry Lemerond, Cheryl Myers, Lisa Joski, and the entire EuroPharma team for its adoption turmeric, of one of the most popular herbs in today's market. There is so much scientific and clinical information being published each year on turmeric rhizome and its extracts — a veritable explosion of research findings — that it is quite challenging to keep up with reading and summarizing the literally hundreds of new papers cited in our robust HerbMedPro database."

EuroPharma's founder Terry Lemerond praised the Adopt-an-Herb initiative, and said: "Representing turmeric, an herb with such life-changing possibilities and significant clinical studies in the evidence-based database of ABC, is a great alignment with the mission of EuroPharma. We look forward to stewarding the ever-growing scientific and clinical data on this far-reaching herb, which contains the key component curcumin: a compound with an extraordinary scientific profile."

Turmeric's adoption page in ABC's HerbMedPro database can be found here; the HerbMedPro record on turmeric is available here.

About Turmeric

The turmeric rhizome has a long history of use in Ayurveda, India's oldest system of traditional medicine, and in traditional Chinese medicine. Traditionally, turmeric was used internally for indigestion and topically for skin sores and wounds. Many commercially-available turmeric extracts are standardized to the level of curcuminoids, a group of biologically active phytochemicals in turmeric, which are collectively known in the marketplace as curcumin (although curcumin is also the name for one of the specific curcuminoids). The anti-inflammatory actions of curcumin may play a large role in its potential therapeutic benefits. Turmeric and curcumin are being investigated in research trials for their ability to treat a range of health conditions such as depression and cognitive decline, and as potential adjunct agents in certain types of cancer.

About EuroPharma

For more than 35 years, EuroPharma has provided the United States with lab-tested natural medicines and proprietary formulations. EuroPharma was founded by Lemerond, who has more than 40 years of experience in the health food industry and received ABC's first Champion Award in 2015. In 2017, Lemerond was inducted into the New Hope Hall of Legends at Natural Products Expo West. EuroPharma's Curamin^® formulas use clinically studied ingredients, including BCM-95^® curcumin extract, for a variety of health benefits.

Retired US Navy Veteran Comments on Military Microbiome Study

Now a Doctor of Natural Medicine, Dr. Gerda Edwards, PhD, sees hope in new research

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gerda Edwards, Retired US Navy Captain, who served in the Navy for 27 years, six of them in back-to-back tours in the Gulf, knows first-hand that military members are under siege from a multitude of physical and mental stressors that come with the profession. She shares her insights on the impact of stressors on the microbiome in a new guest blog post on the Prebiotin website at https://www.prebiotin.com/military-gut-microbiome-unique-universal/.

Now a Doctor of Natural Medicine (DNM), Board Certified in Integrative Health by the American Association of Integrative Medicine (AAIM), Dr. Edwards, PhD, DNM, FDN-P, sees the recent study published by the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology as a "great first step in recognizing the effects of stress on service members' health, as it relates to intestinal permeability, sometimes referred to as 'leaky gut.'"

The study, headed by J. Phillip Karl, PhD, RD, of the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine Military Nutrition Division, used a systems biology approach and multiple-stressor military training environment to determine the effects of physiologic stress on intestinal microbiota composition and metabolic activity and intestinal permeability (IP). Seventy-three soldiers received three rations with or without protein- or carbohydrate-based supplements during a four-day cross-country ski march. 

According to the published abstract: "Findings demonstrate that a multiple-stressor military training environment induced increases in intestinal permeability (IP) that were associated with alterations in markers of inflammation, and with intestinal microbiota composition and metabolism. Observed associations between IP, the pre-stress microbiota, and microbiota metabolites suggest targeting the intestinal microbiota could provide novel strategies for preserving IP during physiologic stress."

Noting that intestinal permeability increased by an astounding 62% after the experiment, Dr. Edwards states, "Finding ways to preserve the pre-stress microbiota is an important goal in order to keep inflammation to a minimum. Equally important is the management of increased cortisol and catecholamines in the stress response cycle that keep the inflammatory cycle going," she emphasizes.

"The last or third important part of this cycle is the elimination of toxins or other unwanted pathogens once they have accessed the bloodstream via intestinal permeability," she adds.

According to Dr. Gerda (as she is often called), "This three-pronged approach addresses all of the factors involved with intestinal permeability and can help the military member control inflammation and even possibly prevent illness and disease."

Additionally, moving from an emphasis on disease treatment to prevention could save the Military Health System (MHS) budget worries as well. The MHS supports a total of 9.2 million beneficiaries with a 2016 fiscal year budget of $47.8 billion dollars.

The study may be the first to use humans in the military to find out how our all-important microbiome is especially stressed due to intense training or "during multiple deployments with exposure to different elements, while enduring long days trying to stay at peak performance with little sleep and limited nutritional support," says Dr. Edwards.

With 80% of our immune system dependent on our gut health, this study contributes to increased understanding of the importance of the microbiome. Prebiotin is involved in two National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies and several more with other major research institutions.

For more commentary on the Military Microbiome, visit her guest blog at https://www.prebiotin.com/military-gut-microbiome-unique-universal/.

Jackson GI Medical/Prebiotin Prebiotic was founded by visionary prebiotic pioneer, Dr. Frank Jackson in 2008, and is dedicated to the responsible development and marketing of medically credible nutritional supplements backed by third-party scientific research.  Located in Harrisburg, Pa., the company can be reached at 855-466-3488 or online at http://www.prebiotin.com.