In a Senate hearing held in late September several members of the supplement industry, along with researchers and celebrities, were on hand to discuss the health benefits of dietary supplements and their potential impact on healthcare costs. This hearing was called in response to a study conducted by the Lewin Group, Falls Church, VA, and commissioned by the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance (DSEA). Dr. Allen Dobson, senior vice president of the Lewin Group, focused on five major categories of supplements, including calcium (+ vitamin D), folic acid, omega 3 fatty acids, glucosamine and saw palmetto. Although potential healthcare cost savings could be estimated for calcium and folic acid, the model used to estimate cost savings for the other categories could not be completed. Key findings in the report included:

• Calcium: The estimate of the five-year (2005-2009) net savings in hospital, nursing facility and physician expenditures resulting from a reduction in the occurrence of hip fractures among those over age 65, through daily intake of 1200 mg of calcium with vitamin D is $13.9 billion. Approximately 734,000 hip fractures could be avoided over the five-year period.

• Folic Acid: If just 10.5 million women of childbearing age began taking 400 mcg of folic acid daily, approximately 600 fewer babies would be born with neural tube defects per year, saving as much as $321,853,000 as a result. Taking into account the very low cost of the supplement, $1.3 billion in lifetime medical costs could potentially be saved over the next five years.

• Omega 3 Fatty Acids: Recent studies have shown that omega 3 fatty acids can have beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease (CVD), and Lewin’s review found consistent evidence that omega 3 fatty acids help reduce deaths from CVD. The research literature contains many promising studies concerning the health benefits of omega 3 fatty acids for a wide number of chronic conditions (e.g., depression, renal disease, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma). Additional research is warranted to verify these preliminary suggestions.

• Glucosamine: Glucosamine has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects and is believed to repair and maintain cartilage. Recently the use of complementary and alternative therapies in the treatment of osteoarthritis has become more widespread, and particular interest has focused on glucosamine.

• Saw Palmetto: Preliminary findings on the effectiveness of saw palmetto for alleviating the symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) indicate that use of the herb yields slight to moderate improvement in symptoms for men with this chronic urinary syndrome.

In other developments, Nutrition 21, Purchase, NY, recently received the results of an economic analysis carried out on its Diachrome® product. Initial results of the analysis conducted by Thomas Jefferson University’s Department of Health Policy at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, indicate that use of Diachrome® as an adjunct nutritional therapy for people with type 2 diabetes could offer significant healthcare cost savings. The preliminary report evaluated a growing body of scientific evidence suggesting that Diachrome, a patented combination of Chromax® chromium picolinate and biotin, can significantly reduce blood sugar levels (when measured as HbA1c) in people with type 2 diabetes. The analysis correlated these findings with the growing healthcare costs associated with treating diabetes, and concluded:

• Patients with diabetes could save between $405 and $729 annually in treatment costs by using Diachrome (based on previous study results).

• Those savings would double for patients with diabetes and heart disease, and triple for patients with diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.

• A patient obtaining a 1.8 percentage point decrease in HbA1c, a measure of long-term blood sugar control, could save $36,000 inflation adjusted lifetime costs.

• For patients with a decrease in HbA1c from 9.3-7.5%, the average three-year cost savings could range from $729 for patients with diabetes only, to $2,270 for patients with diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.