A a recent family get-together, we were exposed via videotape to a nifty new cure for:
Cancer
Obesity
Depression
ADD/ADHD
Arthritis
Any pain
M.S.
Insomnia, etc, etc.
By taking a ‘megadose’ of 'OPC’s (the latin words of the acronym don’t make sense together) we can cure this stuff in 3 or so days. Nevermind that they’re being pedaled by a fake doctor.
Have there been any scientific, real studies about OPCs vs. placebo, and has anyone heard of these OPCs before? I’d like to show my relatives their errors before they waste more money.
I’ve got access to some pretty good pharaceutical trials databases, I just need a bit of info, such as:
What does “OPC” stand for?
Indications (conditions treated)?
Manufacturer / distributer?
However, my up-front S.W.A.G. is that “OPCs” come under the heading of “dietary supplement”, and thus evade most FDA scrutiny, including the need to show effecacy and labeling requirements. A key give-away is to look for small-print disclaimers indicating that no scientific claims are made about the suitability or effecacy of the product in dealing with any particular condition.
If the product does make specific medical claims, the distributors had damn well better have data to back it up, or the FDA will land on them like a rabid gorrilla with an impacted wisdom tooth when it finds out (such as when you make your annonymous phone call?).
In the PDR for Nutritional Supplements (Medical Economics 2001), pp 386-388, is a discussion of pycnogenol, which is a mixture of procyanidins, especially oligomeric proanthocyanidins.
“Claims made for pycnogenol are sweeping. It has been demonstrated to have free-radical-scavenging properties, but far from established are claims that it is useful in [a long list of disorders]. Current research suggests that pycnogenol might have some cardioprotective effects and might be helpful in some vascular disorders.”
There is much more discussion of claims made, results shown, and need for further research. The authors seem cautiously optimistic that the stuff may turn out to be useful for a number of medical applications, but stress that results are in most cases inconclusive so far, due largely to a lack of proper trials.