Nutritional Medicine
What should nutritional medicine be used for?
Nutritional medicine has a whole range of applications that span both
conventional and complementary medicine. There are those who would argue
that everyone needs to take regular nutritional supplements on a daily
basis, which others suggest that nutritional supplements are only needed
in states of proven deficiency such as an iron deficiency anaemia. Certainly,
nutritional supplements can be effectively used as agents that modify
disease processes. For instance, there is sound evidence that zinc taken
orally, if you are suffering from colds or flu, will shorten the duration
of the illness and improve symptoms. Increasing the consumption of polyunsaturated
fatty acids, usually derived either from plants or more commonly fish
oils can be of real benefit in reducing the levels of harmful fats in
the blood, controlling and modifying the inflammation experience by patients
with rheumatoid arthritis and even help symptoms and reducing relapse
rates in inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s.
Studies suggest that Vitamin C probably does treat (although it does
not prevent) colds and Vitamin B6 is of value in premenstrual syndrome
and possibly autism, while Vitamin E may be of value for patients with
angina. We also know that folic acid, taken before and during pregnancy,
will reduce the rate of spina bifida. In general, the intake of folic
acid in most westernised industrial nations falls well below the recommended
nutritional intake; one American study suggested that most adults were
only taking half the RNI for folate as part of their regular daily diet.
Nutritional medicine, therefore, can be very important in the treatment
and prevention of a variety of problems.
The recommendations made by some nutritionalists frequently involve quite complex
and expensive supplement regimes. Many people claim benefit from such approaches,
and indeed they may be of genuine benefit. However, as is the case with the practical
application of many aspects of complementary medicine, we are often unclear about
the scientific validity of the very specific recommendations that may be made
by some practitioners.
Who prescribes supplements?
The majority of people taking nutritional supplements will do so on
the basis of advice from health magazines, a friend, or perhaps someone
in a health food shop or pharmacy that may sell various nutritional supplements.
Many people will already be taking cod liver oil or glucosamine for their
arthritis and menopausal women frequently take extra calcium in order
to avoid osteoporosis. The majority of nutritional supplements are therefore
self-prescribed. Nutritional supplements may also be used as part of
the treatment regimes prescribed by a whole variety of complementary
practitioners, including herbalists, homoeopaths, osteopaths and chiropractors.
Some therapists specialise in the investigation and prescription of nutritional
supplements, in particular those who are members of the British Association
of Nutritional Therapists, Registered Naturopaths and medically qualified
doctors who are members of the British Society for Allergy, Environmental
and Nutritional Medicine (BSAENM).
