Tag Archives: Science-Based Medicine

Cinnamon for Diabetes? It May Work, But Just Barely

In a meta-analysis…

Cinnamon lowered A1C by 0.09%, versus the usual 1% with medication. [Given that] A1c reflects overall glucose trends, cinnamon doesn’t look that impressive. Even at the extreme of the confidence interval, cinnamon has, at best, 10% of the efficacy of drug treatments. At worst, it’s completely ineffective.

One tasty component of a Cinnabon cinnamon roll

See all the wonky details in a post by pharmacist Scott Gavura at Science-Based Medicine.  I would only add that average changes in blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c in clinical studies don’t necessarily apply to an individual; some folks may respond much  better than others.

Steve Parker, M.D.

 

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Filed under Drugs for Diabetes, Supplements

Your Tax Dollars At Work: FDA Warns HCG Marketers

 

"It's been three months. That HCG should kick in right about now."

Ooooh!  I’m sure they’re shaking in their boots.

I ran across a patient in the emergency department a couple months ago who coincidentally happened to be taking over-the-counter HCG oral drops for help with weight loss.  She didn’t ask my opinion, so I didn’t give it.

Now the FDA has sent a stern warning letter to seven HCG diet marketers to cease and desist.  I started seeing ads for homeopathic oral HCG at least a year ago.  And the FDA is just now getting around to the letters?

The Science-Based Medicine blog can teach you about homeopathy.

Here’s a snippet from the first FDA link above:

Miller explains that HCG was first promoted for weight loss in the 1950s. “It faded in the 1970s, especially when it became apparent that there was a lack of evidence to support the use of HCG for weight loss,” she says.

The diet has become popular again and FDA and FTC are taking action on illegal HCG products. “You cannot sell products claiming to contain HCG as an OTC drug product. It’s illegal,” says Brad Pace, team leader and regulatory counsel at FDA’s Health Fraud and Consumer Outreach Branch. “If these companies don’t heed our warnings, they could face enforcement actions, legal penalties or criminal prosecution.” 

You think these HCG marketers didn’t know from the git-go that what they were doing was illegal?

I’d have thought the FDA already had enough poop to start enforcement actions.

But what do I know?

Steve Parker, M.D.

 

4 Comments

Filed under Drugs for Diabetes, Weight Loss