Vitamin Information Center

Supplements containing high doses of vitamin B6 should carry a detailed warning to consumers that they can be potentially toxic and damage the nervous system, according to Australia’s medicine watchdog.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s complementary medicines evaluation committee says warning labels required on products containing 50mg or greater doses of vitamin B6 should be expanded to include more specific advice about potential toxic effects. High doses can cause peripheral neuropathy, which causes numbness, tingling and burning sensations in limbs.

The TGA says there has been a well-established link to the condition and taking big amounts of vitamin B6 — which is also known as pyridoxine, pyridoxal and pyridoxamine — but some consumers may be unaware of the risk, particularly if they take several supplements including multivitamins.

The agency’s adverse drug reactions advisory committee has received two reports of people suffering peripheral neuropathy after taking vitamin B6.

The committee said it was concerned that the overuse of single vitamin products while taking multivitamins could lead to people routinely taking excessive amounts of vitamins B6 and A.

CATHY O’LEARY
MEDICAL EDITOR

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Matthias Rath and his foundation had never claimed their vitamin products were a cure for HIV/Aids, Rath’s advocate told the Cape High Court today.

The court is hearing a bid by the Treatment Action Campaign for an order forcing the government to act against what it says are Rath’s illegal distribution of vitamin products in black townships and his claim that they can reverse the course of Aids.

“We are not claiming it’s a cure,” Rath’s advocate, Dumisa Ntsebeza, told the court. “We would like to make very clear, that has never been the claim.”

Rath’s position, he said, was that in the absence of an effective cure or a vaccine, and in the face of the extreme toxicity of antiretrovirals, multivitamins were an effective and affordable way to “halt the progression and even reverse the symptoms” of Aids.

Ntsebeza said it was much the same thing to say that vitamins and micronutrients delayed Aids, as TAC had conceded, or that they reversed it, and one should not quibble about the difference.

However there was scientific evidence, published in reputable peer-reviewed international journals, that they could in fact reverse the course of the disease.

It was not the court’s job to question this research.

At one point Ntsebeza referred to administering multivitamins to “our patients”.

However elsewhere in his argument he said that Rath’s only involvement in the affair was the donation of vitamins to the SA National Civics Organisation.

Sanco in turn ran a community nutrition programme using those donations.

It would be a sad day were the court to interdict this programme, he told judge Dumisani Zondi.

A new range of topical vitamins designed to counteract skin aging have been released marking the launch of Vitivia, the aesthetic division of US-based JSJ Pharmaceuticals.

The Pro:Vitamin line will add to the growing number of anti-aging products that are distributed through physicians offices, reflecting the company’s strong links in this area and the strength of the channel.

Achieving stability of the compounds

According to Vitivia the benefits of most topical vitamins have been limited by the inability to stabilize the compounds when exposed to air and light, which many companies have addressed by adding preservatives to the formulation.

However, the Pro:Vitamin products have an individualized dispensing system, which solves the problem of product stability, stated the company.

The range can then remain preservative free which Vitivia hopes will appeal to the modern consumer who is attracted by all things natural and chemical free.

Small biodegradeable capsules contain a daily dose of the formulation therefore offering the consumer a consistent product that offers the same formula on the first and last day of the treatment period.

Single vitamin formula

The Pro:Vitamin line includes three products - Pro Vit A15, Pro Vit C10 and Pro Vit E5 containing pure vitamin A, C and E respectively.

Pro Vit A15 contains vitamin A at 15 percent and promises to increase skin cell turnover rate, smooth fine lines and reduce skin inflammation.

Pro Vit C10 promises to protect against free radical damage and stimulate the synthesis of collagen, whereas vitamin E has been shown to reduce inflammation and enhance the activity of other antioxidant systems.

The fact that the vitamins appear individually in the formula sets the product apart from other topical vitamin formulas currently available on the market that usually offer a combined formulation.

This separation allows for greater individuality of treatment, although a consumer will be able to combine the products without any adverse affects, assured Betty Sweet from JSJ Pharmaceuticals.

Physician dispensing a natural step for Vitivia

As Vitivia is a division of JSJ Pharmaceuticals - a producer of prescription only skin treatments - the physician’s office seemed like a natural choice for the Pro:Vitamin line, explained Sweet.

The company has strong relationships within the medical community, she said, adding that depending on the success of the product line it may expand into other distribution networks in the future.

Similarly, the product range will be limited to US distribution for the time being.