CALCIUM: ANOTHER WEIGHT LOSS STRATEGY

CALCIUM AND VIT D SUPPLEMENTATION

CALCIUM CUTS BONE LOSS

VITAMIN C - THE WONDER CURE

PMS - PROPER MULTIPLE SUPPLEMENTATION

CATARACTS AND ANTIOXIDANTS

CALCIUM & MAGNESIUM

A CRAMP "SOLUTION"

CHOCOLATE CRAVINGS

CHELATION & MINERAL BIOAVAILABILITY

MALNUTRITION AND THE ELDERLY

MAGNESIUM: ARE YOU "MARGINALLY" DEFICIENT?

MAGNESIUM: THE MEDICINAL MINERAL

YOUR HEALTH CARE DEBATE

THE OTHER DEBATE

"TIS THE SEASON TO BE STRESSED"

VEGETARIANISM: A 90'S APPROACH TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE

WINTER BLUES AND HOLIDAYS

ANTIOXIDANT PROTECTION

SHOULD YOU TAKE EXTRA VITAMINS

MACULAR DEGENERATION STUDY SUPPORTS SUPPLEMENTATION

WHAT DO HEART DISEASE, STROKES AND ALZHEIMER'S HAVE IN COMMON? 3 B VITAMINS

As we watch our elected leaders debate a national health care plan, it's easy to feel helpless. Such decisions could have a powerful impact on our lives. However, we are not totally helpless. We can take steps to curb rapidly rising medical costs.

One such area is in patient compliance (taking medication according to schedule). According to the American Druggist, as many as 90% of all drugs are not taken as directed, resulting in an estimated 125,000 deaths every year. The National Council on Patient Information and Education reports that this noncompliance added $20 billion to our nation's health care bill.

This is a particular problem for people taking medications for chronic illnesses that have no symptoms, such as hypertension. Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy have found that 86% of Medicaid patients stopped taking their antihypertensive medication within a year after it was prescribed. The study also found that each subject's noncompliance cost was $637 in additional health care costs. Over the past year or so, major pharmaceutical manufacturers have instituted programs to try to improve the horrendous state of drug compliance.

Likewise, dietary supplements do not work overnight. Shari Lieberman says it best The Real Vitamin and Mineral Book. "If you are nervous and irritable today and take a B complex tonight, do not expect to feel calm and serene tomorrow. In general three or four weeks is enough time for you to see beneficial results from a supplement." If you are taking supplements as "health insurance", consistency is paramount.

We intend to, but we forget. A seven-day vitamin monitor is a handy container that can be stocked a week in advance. One compartment for each day of the week helps us follow our daily regimen. Advanced Nutritional Research is committed to our customer's optimum health through better compliance when taking supplements.

The national health care plan is complicated enough without wondering, "Did I or didn't I take my supplements?"

Copyright © September-November, 1994