Natracare launches GarliCare
The many health benefits garlic offers have long been known and the subject of studies, including those that support garlic's promising role in promoting cardiovascular health. And tapping these health benefits is what Natracare, a Filipino-owned health and nutrition company, had in mind when it recently launched GarliCare, a food supplement in liquid-capsule form that captures the allicin, the most powerful compound from garlic.
Allicin, according to Dr. Rommel Tinio, an integrative medicine practitioner, is the active component in garlic that helps in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, among its many other health benefits. Speaking at the launch, Tinio said that proof of the benefits of garlic is no longer confined to folklore but is derived from scientific studies. "It's just now-with the studies-that the technical aspect has been elucidated and eventually clarified as to the effect of garlic," he said.
For instance, a new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) showed that garlic's protective effect is closely linked to how much hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is produced from garlic compounds interacting with blood cells. The release of hydrogen sulfide may cause up to 72-percent relaxation or vasodilative effect in blood vessels-the first step in lowering blood pressure and gaining the heart-protective effects of garlic.
Earlier studies on garlic include a 1993 review in the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians, which found 12-percent reduction in cholesterol levels after just four weeks in the research groups that had taken garlic. Recent clinical trials published in the Journal of Hypertension showed that taking garlic tablets cuts a patient's blood pressure by between one and five percent. This led researchers to conclude that taking garlic supplements could cut the incidence of stroke by 30 to 40 percent and heart disease by 20 to 25 percent.
The secret in harnessing garlic's efficacy lies in standardizing the amount of allicin and preserving its potency. Bern Atienza, Natracare president and chief executive officer, this is what GarliCare offers.
GarcliCare is manufactured by Capsugel France from garlic macerate oil using its patented Liquid Encapsulated Microspray Sealing (LEMS) technology, which ensures potency, efficacy, and bioavailability.
Tinio said that garlic macerate oil reduces serum cholesterol and triglycerides, inhibits platelet aggregation, lowers blood pressure, and prevents atherosclerosis. "Garlic macerate, among these forms, has a higher allicin releasing potential than garlic oil and powder," he said.
The technology also guarantees that the allicin content in garlic is delivered fresh and absorbed into the body for maximum health benefits, makes the capsules virtually airtight, and protects against oxidation.
The recommended dose for people who want to use garlic to protect the heart or improve cardiovascular health is three to five milligrams of allicin per day. Each capsule of GarliCare has 1,272 mcg of pure active allicin that helps lower bar cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. Three to four liquid capsules of GarliCare provide the required 3.9 to 5.2 mg of allicin per day.
For more informatiion, visit www.natracare.com.ph, call +63-2-4156055 or +63917-5285245, or e-mail info@natracare.com.ph.
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Decellularized heart valve approved
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared for marketing the first replacement heart valve from donated human tissue in which the cells have been removed.
Traditionally, when human tissue is recovered from a cadaver for future implantation, it is inspected, cleaned and decontaminated to prevent infection, but the allograft product remains otherwise unchanged.
CryoLife Inc. has added a manufacturing step to its CryoValve SynerGraft Pulmonary Valve and Valved-Conduit Allograft (SynerGraft) that decellularizes or removes the tissue's cells and cellular debris. What remains is a scaffold of connective tissue that still functions like a human heart valve, potentially lowering the risk of an immune response and subsequent tissue rejection.
Dr. Daniel Schultz, director of FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said the approval "is a promising advance in allograft products," adding that the FDA welcomes innovations in manufacturing that provide more medical options for patients.
Allograft heart valves are popular choices for children because they avoid the need to take blood-thinning medications on a long-term basis. Allograft heart valves are also less likely to calcify than heart valves from a pig or cow.
The pulmonary valve directs blood flow from the right ventricle to the lungs. The SynerGraft valve is for use in patients who require replacement of their pulmonary valve because of disease, malformation or malfunction of their own pulmonary valve or as part of another surgical procedure.
The FDA cleared the SynerGraft valve based on clinical data comparing 342 SynerGraft valves (implanted between 2000 and 2004) to 1,246 traditional allograft heart valves sold by the company. The data included information on mortality, device-related reoperations, structural valve deterioration, endocarditis, and blood clots. The FDA found that the SynerGraft valve performed at least as well as traditional allograft valves.
CryoLife is based in Kennesaw, Georgia.
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New supplements in the market
Gemlaine Marketing and Distribution Corp. recently added two new products in the growing market for nutritional supplements with its launch of Activ EGCG Plus and Carofit.
Activ EGCG Plus is green tea with vitamin E, both known as potent antioxidants. Green tea is touted for its substance called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is said to offer such benefits as improving blood circulation, lowering bad cholesterol, promoting fat metabolism, and boosting the body's defenses against free radicals.
A 1993 study (Ames BN, et al.) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, for instance, showed an association between regular intake of green tea and lowering of the risk of heart disease and stroke. Two other studies showed that green tea catechins help reduce body fat by promoting metabolism.
Activ EGCG Plus is made with Teavigo, which contains 95-percent EGCG, plus DL-alpha tocopheryl acetate, a fat-soluble vitamin found in vegetable oils and nuts. (Teavigo is a trademark of DSM Nutritional Products of Switzerland.) One capsule of Activ EGCG Plus contains 50 mg of EGCG equivalent to two to three cups of green tea minus the caffeine.
Active EGCG Plus is also touted to strengthen the body's defenses against conditions caused by oxidation or free-radical damage like skin ageing, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia and memory loss, heart disease, and diabetes.
Carofit, on the other hand, contains natural carotenoids (carrot extract) with vitamins C and E, zinc, and 36 other micronutrients. It is touted to help retard cognitive impairment, reduce the risk of eye problems like cataract and macular degeneration, slow down the progression of atherosclerosis, prevent photoageing, promote heart health, and improve immune status. In one study published in the Annals of Epidemiology in February 2000, several serum carotenoid concentrations were associated with a reduced risk for angina. Carotenoids have also been associated with lowering the risk for certain cancers.
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Online health-record service up
SAN FRANCISCO
A medical clinic in the United States revealed that it is helping Google test a much-anticipated online health-record service that promises to compete with one launched last year by Microsoft. The Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic said it plans to enroll up to 10,000 patients in an invitation-only, private pilot project in collaboration with the California Internet titan.
The Google Health service is crafted to let patients use the Internet to efficiently and privately share their medical information with various health-care providers and pharmacies, according to the clinic.
"We believe patients should be able to easily access and manage their own health information," Google vice president Marissa Mayer said.
Google chose Cleveland Clinic because it already lets patients manage electronic medical records online.
"The partnership with Google is an example of true innovation in health care which brings value to patients and providers," said clinic chief executive Delos Cosgrove, who is a member of Google's health-advisory council. "As the volume of medical information available to patients increases, it becomes more important for doctors and patients to use this information in a way that empowers the patient to be more collaborative with their care providers."
The collaboration will let Google test software tools built to allow patients to securely exchange medical information such as prescriptions, allergies, and illnesses with health-care providers.
In October, Google rival Microsoft launched HealthVault software and services designed to let people store and selectively share medical records. People are concerned because "they must navigate a complex web of disconnected interactions between providers, hospitals, insurance companies and even government agencies," Microsoft Health Solutions Group vice president Peter Neupert said at the launch.
M AFP
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