1/14/13Test Questions:8) apricot pits is not acceptable because we don’t eat the pits. Cassava roots avoid poisoning after boiling11) kava is now illegal because of the new strains containing higher percentages of active ingredients.13) is it safe, what does it contain, if has been evaluated by FDA: herbals26) fish oil, heart disease32) genus, extraction, active ingredient, level of active ingredient34) whether a dietary supplement is safe, what it contains38) consumption of toxic plant: liver, detoxification enzymesPfiesteria spp.:AlgaeBlowfish/ Puffer fish:Has value: stretch of tissue on dorsal side: find tasty filletsWhen comes out of water: blows up – survival mechanism1/4th size of footballtough skintetradotoxin: gives feeling of well- beingJapanese delicacySkinned while still alive, to prevent toxin getting into eaten partsSoup: making tingling of lips, mouthWED 4:30 pm – power points dueFilm:48 billion alternative medicinedriven by “money”“the alternative fix”“mind body specialist” meeting with acupuncturist and doctorHow it began?Tom Harkin, had a friend Bedel (congressman) who turned to alternative medicine for prostate cancer and became “cured” of itHerkin began taking bee pollen to treat allergies and found to no longer have any allergy symptomsAsked congress to have NIH study alternative medicine2 million to NIH for project when their budget was about $11 billionused 2 milion for Office of Alternative MedicineHarvard Medical: asked patients whether they were using alternative medicinesEisenberg of Harvard: requested national survey and believed it would be 10 -15%. Results were unexpected:Found 1/3 americans using alternative therapySpending 10 billion out of pocketOnly 28% discussed with their PMDDeep tissue massage – painful to clear body of toxinsEx: treating infertilityOffice of Alternative medicine: scientists vs politiciansHarkin kept pursuing greater funds1998, got “real office”, more fundingplaced top scientist in charge, Strauss MDUMD received funds for testing of knee osteoarthritis with Chinese acupunctureNausea and dental pain are two only ailments proven to be treated by acupunctureAcupuncture: said to be mostly have : “placebo effect” – feeling better after treatment even when treatment has not supposed to have medicinal treatmentSt. John’s Wort:Natural anti-depressant: “proven not to work against severe depression”In moderate – major depressionThe more depressed someone is, the more likely some one is to use herbal supplementsMay be dangerous: reduces Indiavir (anti-viral) for people with HIV. Protective drug plummets in body when taking in organ transplantNot enough warning to general public of contraindicationsDoes not have to prove if effective or safeHow is it that supplements go through such little regulation?Dietary Supplement and Health Act:DSHEAPassed unanimouslyBecame one of the most controversial pieces of legislationFDA said they would begin to take herbals “more seriously”Utah: state with highest herbal supplement useVoodoo Silence: critic of DSHEAtook away FDA’s rights of regulating drugs before shelvedFDA only able to intervene after issues show up$18 billion dollar industrysince DSHEA, 17 million reports of adverse effectsEphedra:After death of popular baseball playerCongress has made no move to change DSHEA to regulate herbal supplements before released to publicGonzales Therapy: Natural Onco doctorSupplement, diet plan and enemas 4 times a day using coffeeNIH funded research on the Gonzales Plan: difficult to study as no clear cut proof of curing cancerCharged with negligenceTx not covered by insuranceOver 1/5 of hospitals provide some sort of alternative therapyHomeopathy:Some studies show it worksOne of the most controversial therapies“ground up tarantula”treatments are so diluted, barely any of the actual substance remainsbasically placeboKombucha Tea:Used as enema for treatment of cancerProbiotic methodToxic Fungi Power PointAmanita mascaraClavicepts: around for a long time. rarely see this organism anymore. Everything is resistant to this fungusAttacks flower and replaces with black fungus. On rye.Used to induce abortionFusarium:Seen on corn kernels. Corn was normal from naked eye. Internal fungus. Seen inside of plantFungus that grows inside of plantMost mycotoxic fungi “occurs in the air”Alfatoxin: steroid moleculeAspergillus flavus - greenmid to late 60s, occurrence of disease in UK affecting chicken and turkeys where they suddenly died. Autopsy found severe liver damage – Turkey X Disease: unknown disease being confined to young poultry.Research on Turkey X, involving a pathologist, people who work with poultry, epidemiologist, chemists, group of individuals set on determining alfatoxins.Examined feed of poultry – looking for chemical responsibleFound ground of peanut mealNo chemical found, must have been “inside”Grew on petri dish and found aspergillusOnly found liver disease with peanuts inoculated with aspergillusCollected extract from aspergillusAlfatoxin – organic solvent solubleUsed TLCGround of peanut sample fluoresced in black lightLets develop extract on TLC in various solvents, let dry, and use fluorescent from black light: found 4 spots4 spots vertical line2 top blue, 2 bottom greenAlfatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2Differences are substitutions on moleculeB1 most toxinHorses fed moldy corn – older studyMarylandHorses dying from being fed moldy corn1/15/13Pfiesteria:Harvesting fish with lesions on themFisherman came in with lesions on them as wellBurkholder of VAPeople who worked with algae around the fish and became ill and dizzyMust have been inhaling somethingBurkholder concluded must have been toxic and being inhaledAlgae toxins are water solubleAlgae went through 9 stages of growthBlamed southern Maryland, chicken farmsPeople repeated her research and asked for her algal islets to repeat her research, and she refused and also refused to publicize her findingsRepeating would ensure authenticity of her results – but she didn’t want thatWas probably something else that was responsible for effectsShe did not grow fish on one side and algae on other side in a closed tank. With a semi-permeable membrane.If a toxic was present: lesions would have formedMany people tried repeating her experiment and found no damage to the fishSaid her “islets were unique and different from the other islets gathered” – believable?Algal Poisoning - involving peopleRed