News, Policy & Economics

In Healthcare, High Tech Gets a Taste of Its Own Disruption

By Kristen Schepker

Over the last five years, nearly all of the major information technology companies have launched some sort of healthcare initiative. The COVID pandemic, with its surging demand for telemedicine and rapid exchange of medical data, only intensifed that trend. But some tech giants have learned the hard way that healthcare is very different from other […]

New Collaboration Promotes Chromatography for Herb Quality

By Erik Goldman

The American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) and the American Botanical Council (ABC)—two of the nation’s leading herbal medicine advocacy groups—have joined forces with the International Association for the Advancement of High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC Association) to promote greater consensus and wider use of this important analytical technique. According to an AHP press release announcing […]

COVID Pandemic Stokes Surge in Supplement Use

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a massive surge in supplement use across the United States, according to data from a new Harris Poll sponsored by the Samueli Foundation. The survey gathered responses from 2,053 US women and men, representing a broad range of ages, ethnicities, and geographical locations. Over three quarters of the respondents (76%) […]

FDA Nixes NAC in Dietary Supplements

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

A spate of warning letters issued by the Food and Drug Administration offers a clear indication that the agency wants to limit the availability of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) in dietary supplement products. NAC, a precursor to the key antioxidant glutathione, is widely recommended by functional medicine and naturopathic practitioners. It is a common component in […]

How Financial Stress Impacts the Immune System

By Kristen Schepker

A recent study of a group of hedge fund traders suggests that the immune system responds to financial stress as if it were a disease. The findings suggest a striking correlation between the human immune system and the volatility of entire financial systems, including the stock market.

It “Should Be Like Masks” Resolution Urges Congress to Recognize Value of Vitamin D

By Erik Goldman

Vitamin D “should be like masks. Everybody should know about it. The government agencies should be pushing it that way,” says Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-WI). Grothman, representing Wisconsin’s 6th congressional district, wants to see vitamin D become part of the nation’s COVID control efforts. Last month, he introduced a resolution urging the federal agencies to […]

California Grants NDs Permission To Give COVID Vaccines

By Erik Goldman

The California Department of Public Health recently authorized licensed naturopathic doctors to become COVID vaccine providers, permitting them to participate in the state’s vaccination efforts if they so choose. Under the California’s Business and Professions Code, naturopaths may give the COVID vaccines provided they are licensed in the state, and they are doing so at […]

Biden COVID Plan Overlooks Vitamin D, Nutrition

By Erik Goldman

Search the Biden administration’s new National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness for the term “Vitamin D” and you will come up with nothing. Vitamin C? Nothing. Zinc? Nope, nothing. The word “nutrition” does appear thrice, but only in the context of malnutrition, and the need to bolster the government’s food aid programs. […]

From Music Gear to Medical PPE: How D’Addario Stepped Up to COVID-19

By Erik Goldman

The D’Addario musical accessories company has been through many ups and downs since its founder Carmine D’Addario (aka Charles) emigrated to Astoria, New York, in 1905, and began making sheep gut guitar strings in a shop behind his house.  But in 4 generations, the company had never ceased operations completely. Then COVID-19 hit the US. […]