When it comes to aging, consumers don't slow down for
science. The pleas of thousands, starving for a pill
that will slow, stop, or reverse the inevitable, clog
the Internet. With an insatiable desire for something
that doesn't yet exist, people are using themselves as
test subjects, and shelling out millions - perhaps
billions - of dollars on products unsupported by
science. In some cases, they may not even know what
they're taking.
Case in point: a product called Protandim. When a deal
between two companies to sell the product fell through,
one appeared to keep the name but changed the
formulation, leaving a glut of information in chat
rooms, blogs, and news articles that describes Protandim,
but doesn't always specify which one.
In November, Lifeline Therapeutics announced that in
just three months it had sold close to $3 million worth
of the product, which retails for about $50 for a
month's supply. This represents a tiny slice of the
dietary supplement industry, valued at $20 billion in
the United States alone by the Council for Responsible
Nutrition, an industry trade association.
Joe McCord, a professor at the University of Colorado's
Denver Health Sciences Center, takes the product, which
claims to "fight cellular aging" by inducing endogenous
antioxidants. In January, McCord and colleagues
published the results of a study in Free Radical
Biology & Medicine, during which he and 28 healthy
volunteers took Protandim - a mixture of ashwagandha and
milk thistle, bacopa, green tea, and tumeric extracts -
for up to 120 days. Participants' levels of the
antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase
increased by 30% and 54%, respectively, while
thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances (a measure of
oxidation) fell by an average of 40%.
Nevertheless, some Protandim buyers may not know what
they're taking. Years ago, Lifeline entered negotiations
to market a product called CMX-1152 developed by
Ceremedix, a Northeastern University-affiliated biotech
in Massachusetts. CMX-1152's potential inspired news
articles containing wildly optimistic predictions from
Ceremedix sources.
According to a representative of Ceremedix who preferred
to remain anonymous, Lifeline began calling CMX-1152 "Protandim,"
although it is unclear who suggested the name. After the
deal between the companies fell apart (for unknown
reasons) Ceremedix dropped CMX-1152, and began
concentrating on other therapeutic areas. But, he says,
a lingering connection to unsubstantiated anti-aging
claims has likely cost the company financial backers. "[Ceremedix]
does not associate itself with claims of living to 120
years," he adds. "People who made that claim are no
longer with the company."
The Protandim that was introduced in February 2005 is a
completely different formulation from 1152. Online
searches bring up pages describing both. At one point,
Lifeline filed a statement with the US Securities and
Exchange Commission, saying that "several erroneous and
misleading statements" were made in a Denver network
broadcast, and Protandim "is in no way comprised of, or
related to, Ceremedix's peptide." Company
representatives from Lifeline did not return requests
for comment.
Even McCord, now scientific director at Lifeline, says
he thinks some consumers may confuse the products. He
says he believes in Lifeline's Protandim, but stresses
that it does not have a recorded effect on aging. "I
wouldn't want to rule out that there might be additional
years, but this is not a miracle pill."
The product is a long way from legitimacy when it comes
to cellular aging, a process Protandim claims to affect
"from the inside out." Steven Austad, based at the
University of Texas Health Science Center and the
Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies in San
Antonio, calls McCord's research an "interesting
beginning," but even if Protandim helps boost the body's
antioxidant activity, there's no evidence that it has an
effect on aging. Without placebo control, it's
impossible to say whether study participants might have
changed their lifestyles because they were being
studied. Still, Austad gives the company credit for
human testing - a step most companies selling anti-aging
products don't even bother to take.
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References:
worldhealth.net
The Scientist
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