British scientists at the University of Exeter analyzed six studies of feverfew

Feverfew for Migraine Prevention

British scientists at the University of Exeter analyzed six studies of feverfew, concluding that the herb significantly reduces the frequency of migraine occurrence. "In my experience," Duke says, "feverfew prevents migraines in about two-thirds of those who use it consistently." Dosage is generally 50 to 150 mg per day of powdered leaves.

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VITAMIN B5 (Panothenic Acid) Enhances stamina

VITAMIN B5 (Panothenic Acid) Enhances stamina, prevents anemia, helps wounds heal, fights infection, strengthens immune system.HERBAL SOURCES: Alfalfa, burdock root, nettle, yellow dock.

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Interactions with Herbs and Dietary Supplements

Interactions with Herbs and Dietary Supplements

Natural medicine practitioners sometimes caution that echinacea may lead to liver inflammation. Although there is no clear information from laboratory or human studies, in theory echinacea may add to liver toxicity caused by other agents, such as kava. Echinacea may affect the way certain herbs and supplements are broken down by the liver.

Echinacea is sometimes used in combination products that are thought to stimulate the immune system. For example, Esberitox® (PhytoPharmica, Germany) contains  Echinacea purpurea ,  Echinacea pallida , wild indigo root ( Baptisia tinctoria ), and thuja (white cedar). Echinacea may be combined with goldenseal or other herbs in some cold relief preparations. There is a lack of high-quality human studies that have shown added benefits or interactions of these combinations.

Echinacea is sometimes sold in combination with goldenseal ( Hydrastis canadensis ), an herb that may reduce the body's ability to absorb vitamin B.

Anesthetics, antineoplastics, antioxidants, and caffeine may interact with echinacea. However, these potential interactions are not fully understood.

The more a person smokes, the lower their IQ,

Cigarette smokers have lower IQs than non-smokers, and the more a person smokes , the lower their IQ, a study in over 20,000 Israeli military recruits suggests.

Young men who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day or more had IQ scores 7.5 points lower than non-smokers, Dr. Mark Weiser of Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer and his colleagues found.

"Adolescents with poorer IQ scores might be targeted for programs designed to prevent smoking," they conclude in the journal Addiction.


While there is evidence for a link between smoking and lower IQ, many studies have relied on intelligence tests given in childhood, and have also included people with mental and behavioral problems, who are both more likely to smoke and more likely to have low IQs, Weiser and his team note in their report.

To better understand the smoking-IQ relationship, the researchers looked at 20,211 18-year-old men recruited into the Israeli military. The group did not include anyone with major mental health problems, because these individuals are disqualified from military service.


According to the investigators, 28 percent of the study participants smoked at least one cigarette a day, around 3 percent said they were ex-smokers, and 68 percent had never smoked.

The smokers had significantly lower intelligence test scores than non-smokers, and this remained true even after the researchers accounted for socioeconomic status as measured by how many years of formal education a recruit's father had completed.

The average IQ for non-smokers was about 101, while it was 94 for men who had started smoking before entering the military. IQ steadily dropped as the number of cigarettes smoked increased, from 98 for people who smoked one to five cigarettes daily to 90 for those who smoked more than a pack a day. IQ scores from 84 to 116 are considered to indicate average intelligence.

Recruits aren't allowed to smoke while intelligence tests are administered, the researchers note, so it's possible that withdrawal symptoms might affect smokers' scores. To address this issue, they also looked at IQ scores for men who were non-smokers when they were 18 but started smoking during their military service. These men also scored lower than never-smokers (97 points, on average), "indicating that nicotine withdrawal was probably not the cause of the difference," the researchers say.

The researchers also compared IQs for 70 pairs of brothers in the group in which one brother smoked and the other did not. Again, average IQs for the non-smoking sibling were higher than for the smokers.

The findings suggest that lower IQ individuals are more likely to choose to smoke, rather than that smoking makes people less intelligent, Weiser and his team conclude.

The greater their risk of taking a puff

The more that teens see cigarette ads, the greater their risk of taking a puff.

A new study shows that the particular content of tobacco marketing resonates with youth and that the vivid imagery in tobacco advertising captures their interest, although teens typically are more resistant to the promotional seduction of other products.

"Cigarettes have created a brand for every personality trait," said study lead author Reiner Hanewinkel, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Therapy and Health Research in Kiel, Germany.

"If you are looking to project independence and masculinity, think of the lonely cowboy in the Marlboro ads," added Hanewinkel, who collaborated with Dartmouth Medical School. "On the other hand, if you're looking to project a desire for romantic relationships, and friendships are playing a role, then you will choose Lucky Strike if you are a man and Virginia Slims if you are a woman."

Kids with high exposure to tobacco advertising were twice as likely to have tried smoking and three times as likely to have smoked in the past month, compared to those with low exposure. Exposure to tobacco advertising also was associated with higher intent to smoke in the future among the never-smokers, suggesting that it affects how adolescents perceive smoking even before they start.

The study, which appears online and in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, has relevance for the United States and other nations with partial advertising bans similar to Germany's restrictions.

The 2008 survey involved 3,415 German schoolchildren, ages 10 to 17, in rural and urban areas. Students saw images (with all the writing and brand logos removed) of six cigarette ads and eight commercial products such as clothing, cars, candy and detergent.

With the brand information missing, researchers measured adolescents' ad recognition by applying psychological assumptions about attention and memory. They inquired about how frequently students had viewed each ad image and asked about smoking habits and intentions.

"We were amazed at how often they had seen the images and could correctly recall the cigarette brand," said study collaborator James Sargent, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth. "For example, 55 percent had seen the Lucky Strike image and almost one quarter correctly decoded the brand."

After analyzing the data, the researchers assessed how likely nonsmokers were to try smoking. Researchers classified survey participants as current smokers if they reported smoking at least once a month.

"This is a well-done study. They controlled for all the things they needed to control for," said Stanton Glantz, Ph.D., director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research & Education at the University of California, San Francisco. Among the outside variables was whether a parent or peers smoke.

"It's a nice contribution to the literature showing that cigarette advertising is very powerful," Glantz said, noting the strong link between the amount of ad exposure and the level of youth response.
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