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The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) released its seventh edition of the Annual Bibliography of Scientific Advances in Dietary Supplement Research on September 17.1
The bibliography consists of 25 synopses of the most significant dietary supplement studies published in 2005, as deemed by a panel of “internationally recognized scientists” in the fields of nutrition, botanical sciences, and public health.
The seventh edition includes several studies on nutrients’ effects on bone fractures, as well as the effects of dietary supplements on preventing cardiovascular disease and cancer. Supplements reviewed in these studies include vitamins D and E, calcium, black cohosh (Actaea racemosa, syn. Cimicifuga racemosa), American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) root extract special polysaccharide fraction (Cold-fX®, CV Technologies, Edmonton, Alberta), green tea (Camellia sinensis), and fish oil supplements, among others. Some of the annotated abstracts of original research articles included in this edition pertain to studies which tested the efficacy of commercially available products in relation to their marketed claims and/or common uses, to a greater extent than previous editions.2 Some of these claims/uses include black cohosh for menopausal symptoms, ginkgo and altitude sickness, and plant stanols and plasma lipids/cholesterol, psyllium and cholesterol levels, an American ginseng root special extract polysaccharide fraction for reduction of upper respiratory tract infections secondary to colds and flus, etc.
The purpose of the ODS publication, as stated on the cover, is, “to raise the level of knowledge on scientific development of dietary supplements as they relate to health promotion, health maintenance and disease prevention.”1 Each of the studies included in the bibliography was published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal in 2005 and was chosen for inclusion through “a comprehensive literature search” of over 1,000 papers.
The 2005 Annual Bibliography of Scientific Advances in Dietary Supplement Research is available as a PDF download through the ODS Web site at: http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/. Copies may also be requested by e-mail (ods@nih.gov) or by writing to the Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health, 6100 Executive Blvd, Rm 3B01, MSC 7517, Bethesda, MD, 20892-7517, USA. Previous issues of the bibliography can also be downloaded from the ODS Web site, beginning with the 1999 premiere.
-Dana Donalson
References
1. Costello R, Saldanha L (eds). Annual Bibliography of Significant Advances in Dietary Supplement Research 2005. Bethesda, MD: Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health; 2006. Available at: http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/Research/Annual_Bibliographies.aspx. Accessed September 26, 2006.
2. Significant advances in dietary supplement research released in annual bibliography (2005). NIH News page. National Institutes of Health Web site. Available at: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2006/od-21.htm. Accessed September 26, 2006.
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