Thursday, April 01, 2004

Pills

Here's what I found out (before we went to Hawaii) about the various pills I am taking (aside from the riluzole):

CoQ10 - (Co-enzyme Q10) - anti-oxidant. Expensive. And it cures every condition that afflects humanity.

Creatine - "Creatine is a widely used dietary supplement principally taken to enhance athletic performance. It is a very strong candidate neuroprotective agent for HD and other neurodegenerative disorders because of its ability to ameliorate toxin-based animal models and because of our preliminary evidence in transgenic HD mice. However, there is only limited animal experience with creatine and there has not yet been any trials in humans with neurodegenerative disorders."

Vitamin E - anti-oxidant. Also, my doctors say it helps the riluzole be slightly more effective.

Vitamin C - Vitamin C promotes healthy teeth and gums, helps in the absorption of iron, aids in the maintenance of normal connective tissue, and promotes wound healing. It also helps the body's immune system.

DHEA - DHEA is a hormonal substance found in the adrenal glands and in the gonads of primates and a few non-primate species. It is also produced synthetically.

Ginseng - Numerous reports of adverse effects from products containing ginseng have been filed with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The literature also documents "ginseng abuse syndrome" among regular users. The chronic effects of ginseng are not well characterized; studies of some components suggest anticarcinogenic activity.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine - L-Carnitine is a non-essential amino acid that can be synthesized by the body. Found abundantly in red meats, carnitine is stored in skeletal muscles where it is needed to transform fatty acids into energy for muscular activity.

B-75 Vitamin - This is not a vitamin but a product which supplies several vitamins. I have decided to stop taking it. The product supplies 200% of the vitamin A requirement, 833% of vitamin C, 100% of vitamin D, 333% of vitamin E, 5000% of Thiamin, 4412% of vitamin B-2, 375% of Niacin, 3750% of vitamin B-6, 100% of folic acid, 4167% of vitamin B-12, 25% of biotin, 1000% of pantothenic acid, and 100% of iron. Dang boy howdy I don't want all that! I'm already taking several of these things, plus a multivitamin. And I don't want several of the rest. For example the iron.

DHA - essential fatty acid. I am getting this in a fish oil concentrate which also contains EPA.

Flax seed oil - what the heck, why not? I think this may give me more essential oils.

Green tea extract - what the heck. It works for the Japanese.
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