CHAPTER 11 - The Best Control 2

for children who are otherwise healthy. However, an analysis of the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey,published in the journal Pediatrics in 1997, found that 54 percent of parents of preschool children gave them avitamin or mineral supplement at least three days a week.Advocates of the products correctly point out that the poison centers’ figures do not prove a causal link betweena product and a reaction and that, in any case, far more people are injured and killed by drugs. Painkillers alonewere associated with 283,253 exposures in 2005, according to the poison centers, more than twice as many aswith supplements. But only 3.5 percent of those exposures occurred when people took the prescribed amountof painkiller; most were from overdoses, either accidental or intentional. The same was true of asthma drugs(3.6 percent of exposures were associated with the prescribed dose) and cough and cold drugs (3.1 percent).While problems with vitamins, minerals and essential oils occurred at similarly low levels when people took therecommended amounts, exposures linked to the recommended levels of herbs, homeopathic products andother dietary supplements accounted for 10.3 percent of all exposures to those products reported to the poisoncenters — about three times the level seen for most drugs.Drugs marketed in the U.S. go through a rigorous F.D.A. approval process to prove that they are effective for aparticular indication, with the potential risks balanced against the benefits. While the approval process has comeunder attack in recent years as unduly favorable to drug companies, it remains among the toughest in the world.There is no comparable requirement for supplements. Even so, hundreds of millions of tax dollars have beenspent since the early 1990s on hundreds of studies to test the possible benefits of supplements. The NationalCenter for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, established by Congress in 1991 to “investigate and validateunconventional medical practices,” has a 2007 budget of more than $120 million.Since April 2002, five large randomized trials financed by the center have found no significant benefit for St.John’s wort against major depression, echinacea against the common cold, saw palmetto for enlarged prostate,the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin for arthritis, or black cohosh and other herbs for the hot flashesassociated with menopause.A new source of data on exposures to dietary supplements will soon become available: in December, Congresspassed a measure requiring the manufacturers of dietary supplements and over-the-counter drugs to inform theF.D.A. whenever consumers call them with reports of serious adverse events. The bill was signed by PresidentBush the day after Christmas. It is a welcome acknowledgment that “natural” does not always mean “safe.”The supplements linked to the most reactions in 2005, according to the poison control centers, were ordinaryvitamins, accounting for nearly half of all the reports received that year, 62,446, including 1 death. Minerals werelinked to about half as many total reports, 32,098, but that number included 13 deaths. Herbs and other specialtyproducts accounted for still fewer total reports, 23,769, but 13 deaths. Essential oils were linked to 7,282 reportsand no deaths. Always test a small area before you treat the entire area and always test a small amount beforeyou ingest or apply larger amounts. It is known some people are allergic to peanuts and milk. As a generalrule, pregnant women should avoid contact with herbs.Herbal Tea Sprays - After preparing the following plants in a water solution:Burdock - Has been used against June beetle grubs.Camomile - Against damping-off in greenhouses and cold frames.Cayenne Pepper - Against caterpillars and fleas.Chive - Against leaf and fruit scab.Elderberry Leaves - Controls blight, caterpillars and flea beetles.Garlic and Onion - Against late blight on tomato and potato and brown rot of stone fruit; red spidersand aphids. This mix is also a powerful antibacterial product that destroys many plant diseases.Gooseberry - Against mildew.Horseradish - Against fungi.Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) - Against mildew and other fungi, especially on grapevines, vegetables,fruit trees and rose bushes.Hyssop - Against bacterial diseases.Pumpkin or Squash Leaves, Freshly Cut, a decotion of black walnut leaves soaked overnight or an402