Millions of Americans use vitamins and supplements as a measure of protection against disease, including cancer. Some patients integrate such supplements into their treatment plans as a complement to traditional medicine.

Last Friday, the FDA said it will phase in a new rule that all manufacturers of vitamins, herbal and other dietary supplements will have to test the ingredients of such products for safety. This rule is intended to ensure that the ingredients on the label match up with the ingredients in the supplement and that no contamination has occurred.

According to an article in the Washington Post, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen's Health Research Group, is still not satisfied. Dr. Wolfe said, "You still don't have to show the product is safe. You don't have to prove it works."

While there still might be a lot of work to be done on this issue, this action is a step in the right direction.

Spring is here. Time to clean the house. And time to give the 'ol body a once-over too.

According to Chinese medicine, spring is the best time of the year to cleanse the body. So if you're feeling lethargic, sluggish, and just plain weighed down, consider these invigorating tips from Penelope Sach's book Detox: Regaining your health and vitality.

Think about this:

• Cut back on white flour products, sweets, and alcohol.
• Drink one glass of water every hour to flush out excess sugar in your system.
• Up your intake of herbal teas.
• Add natural detoxifying agents to your diet, such as cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, fish, and eggs.

How do we know what is safe when choosing vitamins? I did a post about vitamins and mentioned that I take Flintstones. Maybe Flintstones are not the best choice for an adult but I like them, they taste good. I try and eat lots of fruits and green veggies but thought that a daily supplement with lots of vitamins and minerals can give me what I might miss.

I received a comment from someone that got me thinking about what else is in the bottle of Flintstones besides the vitamins and minerals. I did look at the back of the bottle and saw a lot of strange ingredients that I know nothing about. So, I'm not advocating taking Flintstones to anyone. Just to make that clear.

If you are thinking about taking dietary supplements such as vitamins, herbals or botanicals as alternative or complementary cancer treatments you need to consider your choice carefully. Few governmental standards are in place to control the production and ensure the safety, effectiveness, and quality of dietary supplements. So, it falls to you, the consumer, to gather truthful information about using these products safely.

The American Cancer Society website lists guidelines for choosing dietary supplement products:

• First, speak with your doctor or other health care provider about any supplement you might consider taking. He or she can probably tell you if the supplement has any risks to your health and if the supplement is safe to take with other medications you may be taking.

• Find information on the product written by recognized medical experts or government agencies. Bring this information to your doctor's attention. You can start on the Web by visiting the National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements at http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/ and clicking on Health Information."

• When you shop for supplements, look for the USP notation on the package label.

• If you are shopping for a botanical supplement, make sure to find a product that uses only the effective part of the plant. Avoid botanicals that have been made using the entire plant, unless the entire plant is recommended.

• Remember that a product described as "natural" is not necessarily safer or more effective.

• Consider the name and reputation of the manufacturer or distributor. Is it a nationally known name? Large companies with a reputation to uphold are more likely to manufacture their products under strict, quality-controlled conditions.

• Does the label provide a way to contact the company if you have questions or concerns about their product? Reputable manufacturers will provide contact information on the label or packaging of their products.

• Contact the manufacturer and ask about their quality control procedures and manufacturing processes.

• Try to avoid mixtures of many different supplements. The more ingredients, the greater the chances of harmful effects.

• Avoid supplements priced significantly lower than comparable products; they are likely to be of lower quality.

• Avoid products that claim to be "miracle cures," "breakthroughs," or "new discoveries," to have benefits but no side effects, or to be based on a "secret ingredient" or method. Such claims are almost always fraudulent, and the product may contain potentially harmful substances or contaminants.

• Avoid products that claim to be effective treatment for a wide variety of unrelated illnesses.

• Avoid products that claim to be safe or effective based solely on testimonials.

Deep within the pages of ancient texts detailing the remedies used by Chinese medicine practitioners, is there a cure for cancer waiting to be rediscovered? The global pharmaceutical company Merck thinks there might be a reference or two to natural cancer-fighting products used by healers then that is obscurely hidden and not known now in modern western medicine.

Merck has entered into a deal with Hong Kong's Chi-Med to look for evidence of promising products that the pharmaceutical company can research and test in clinical trials. According to the article Merck looks for ancient Chinese cancer cure written by Susie Mesure, "Western pharmaceutical companies are increasingly outsourcing their drug discovery work, with many looking east for the solution to medical mysteries that Western doctors cannot solve."

Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM, is a practice of medicine that combines medicinal herbs, nutrition, meditation, massage, exercise and acupuncture with an applied philosophy in the harmonious balance of yin and yang for treating illness. In all fairness, because this system of medicine has developed over thousands of years, and my understanding limited by Western educational influence, the definition I have given is a very brief, and possibly incomplete, overview of TCM. If you are interested in learning more about TCM, begin by visiting Traditional Chinese Medicine at Wikipedia.

Chi-Med will be scanning information in a library of 10,000 natural substances for those that might hold potential in a cure for cancer. It will be interesting what they find.

I have a cabinet full of supplements I've never taken. I've never been convinced they will do much for me -- other than add an easy-to-forget routine to my day -- and doctors have typically advised me that a healthy diet will deliver just about everything I need for optimal functioning. I still wonder sometimes if I get enough calcium and at times I have taken iron supplements when doctors have determined I lacked appropriate iron levels. But I have never wondered about all the other pills and powders and liquids that claim to promote health -- and sometimes prevent cancer. And after reading a recap of a study in the September 2006 Oprah magazine, I am further convinced that supplements are just not for me.

A report from ConsumerLab.com (CL), a company that tests and certifies supplements, suggests that some people might be ingesting too much lead as they try to keep cancer at bay. CL randomly selected various green tea preparations from store shelves, websites, and direct marketers and found that two out of four contained what is considered unacceptable levels of lead. Green tea products they recommend avoiding are Futurebiotics Premium Extract Standardized Green Tea tablets and Herbal Select Standardized Green Tea Extract. Products found to be totally free of lead are Life Extension Mega Green Tea Extract, Nature's Bounty Green Tea Extract, Pharmanex Tegreen 97, and Puritan's Pride Green Tea Extract.

Experts believe that some supplements may help prevent cancer. But most testing is done on food so we can't be entirely sure about the safety of supplements. Their advice is this -- make a change through a healthy diet rather than supplements. This is just what I plan to do.

Starchild Abraham Cherrix, a 16-year-old cancer patient who is battling Hodgkin's disease ended his legal fight with a victory Wednesday when his family's attorneys and social services officials reached an agreement that would allow him to forgo chemotherapy.

Cherrix who has struggled with the disease once before and having it reoccur, decided he wanted to take an alternative healing method to treat the disease the second time around. Social service officials fought that decision.

Under the court ruling, Cherrix will be treated by an oncologist of his choice who is board-certified in radiation therapy and interested in alternative treatments. The family must provide the court updates on Abraham's treatment and condition every three months until he's cured or turns 18. Cherrix is still on the Hoxsey method, an herbal treatment that is illegal in the United States but can be obtained through clinics in Mexico, but the family hasn't ruled out other possible treatments, such as immunotherapy or radiation treatment in small doses.

For women with estrogen-driven breast cancer suffering the symptoms of menopause, being prescribed traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is out of the question. The risks are simply too great in introducing any estrogen into the body. There are few alternatives and many women decide to suffer with hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and cold flashes, a clammy feeling, sporadic rapid heart beat, irritability, mood swings, sudden tears, insomnia, fatigue, feelings of anxiety, dread, apprehension, difficulty concentrating, disorientation, depression and mental confusion -- without any significant relief. One of the alternatives is personalized natural hormone replacement therapy that is individually mixed specific to each woman's needs.

According to Sydney Menopause Centre at Randwick's Royal Hospital for Women director Dr John Eden, who has diagnosed two women patients with uterine cancer, believes the cancer is linked to natural hormone replacement therapy. Australian doctors are warning women to think twice before taking handmade hormone compounds prepared by chemists, due to the danger that these preparations can lead to elevated hormone levels that could lead to excessive bleeding, increased risk of breast and uterine cancer and blood clots.

"Many women think they are getting a herbal treatment and are shocked to learn they are getting a hormone treatment," stated Dr Eden. Dr Helena Teede, research director at the Jean Hailes Foundation, also added that many women were unaware these preparations were not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

ABC News Good Morning America Kate Snow interviewed Los Angeles dermatologist Dr. Jessica Wu about a new herbal supplement being introduced on the American market this summer that is reported to protect the skin from sun damage that can lead to skin cancer.

Heliocare, a tropical fern extract used in Europe for decades to treat the skin conditions of psoriasis and eczema, comes in pill form and is taken daily.

Dr. Wu warns you cannot skip the sunscreen when spending time in the sun because the herbal supplement will not prevent sunburn.

"It gets into your blood stream and works from the inside out, as opposed to sunscreen which works from the outside in," explained Dr. Wu. "So this pill mops up the damage that gets past the sunscreen you might be wearing. It also repairs damage that is done to your skin that leads to skin cancer."

Heliocare is not recommended for pregnant women, nursing mothers, or children. Heliocare is expensive -- a bottle of 60 pills costs $60 dollars. I don't know why, but I was surprised when I watched this news story on ABC News. If something as simple as a fern extract can reverse sun damage to skin and reduce the risk of skin cancer -- and has been on the European market for decades -- why haven't we heard about it here in the US before now? I am not promoting this product -- I am just telling you what I saw on the news. ABC News.

You can watch the video of the news interview here.

Some women have chosen herbal remedies to relieve menopause symptoms over concerns about health risks associated with hormone replacement therapy (HRT). One of the herbs used is black cohosh.

After reviewing all the data on black cohosh, used by women to relieve menopausal symptoms of hot flashes, insomnia, excessive sweating, palpitations, headaches, poor sleep, depression, and irritability, Britain's Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has decided to require black cohosh products come with a warning about the potential for liver damage.

Taking its name from the breast cancer awareness pink ribbon, Ribbon Nutrition, is a dietary supplement company that offers 40 products -- such as Fish Oil, Earth Energy Multi-Vitamin, Milk Thistle, Green Tea and Saw Palmetto. Each member of the company has been touched by a personal experience with breast cancer. Ten percent of the profit from the sale of Ribbon Nutrition products goes to cancer charity for education and research in the fight against breast cancer.

The statistics for breast cancer are still grim. It is estimated 1,150,000 women worldwide will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and 411,000 women will die from the disease. It is now the leading cause of death among US women aged 20 to 59. Why are the products turned upside down? In the Million Dollar Flip challenge, when the profits donated from the product sold reach one million dollars, the product will get turned right-side up.

According to the Ribbon Nutrition company, prevention is the key and by making better lifestyle choices, whether it's concerning your diet or the cleaners you use in your home or the deodorant you roll-on every morning, you can make a difference in your health and your family's health. Self-education and self-empowerment are at the heart of the company's efforts. They are not setting out to tell people what to think or what choices to make, but to provide access to the information individuals need to make their own informed, healthy decisions. On the Ribbon Nutrition company store website it state that the mission is to eradicate breast cancer through education, awareness, nutrition, prevention, and charity.

As Dr. Alexander Sun watched his mother fighting lung cancer and suffering in pain, with chemotherapy failing to stop the progression of her cancer, he developed an herbal soup for her to drink that he thought might help. Three months later, surgeons removed a tumor and she lived cancer-free for another 17 years. Dr. Sun, a biochemist, went on to conduct two small clinical trials with his soup, called Selected Vegetables/Sun's Soup, and reported positive outcomes for most of the cancer patients in the trial. In fact, the results were impressive, according to Dr. Sun's tests. There are some questions regarding the size of the trials, as both involved few participants, and most used the soup as a complementary therapy while undergoing conventional treatments at the same time.

Some of the ingredients Dr. Sun used to make his soup have been proven in separate research studies to have some anti-cancer properties. The ingredients are: soybean, the medicinal shitake mushroom, red date, scallion, garlic, lentil bean, leek, mung bean, hawthorn fruit, onion, American ginseng, angelica root, licorice, dandelion root, senegal root, ginger, olive, sesame seed and parsley.

The National Cancer Institute has documented information on the human clinical studies that were conducted, with additional information about Sun's Soup. I found it interesting that they do not rule out the effectiveness of the soup, only that the data is too limited to make a conclusive statement regarding the soup. I understand Sun's Soup is sold freeze-dried as a dietary supplement.

While many cancer patients use, or are interested in, herbal remedies to improve the quality of life during cancer treatments and beyond into cancer survivorship, research-based evidence in how and why herbs work is still largely ignored as scientific study. In my opinion, not nearly enough rigid investigation is going on in relation to herbal therapies even though, from a patient's perspective, there is much interest. I become very intrigued when I do read that a study will be done to further the knowledge into the validity -- or not -- of age-old herbal remedies. If it works, I want to know why.

Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia will be studying several herbs, ginseng and valerian, that might be of significant benefit to cancer patients undergoing cancer treatment to off-set some of the common troublesome symptoms like insomnia and fatigue. Ginseng is believed to fight fatigue and improve the immune system. Valerian is known to relax and calm, and act as a sleep aid. Perhaps while they are investigating these two herbs, they can figure out a novel way of toning down the smelly gym sock phenomenon associated with valerian. I still haven't found a way to use it without encountering its most unpleasant aroma.

Susun Weed is an international authority on herbal medicine and natural approaches to women's health. Weed teaches herbal medicine, ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, psychology of healing, eco-herbalism, nutrition, and issues of women's health to medical schools, hospital wellness centers, breast cancer centers, midwifery schools, naturopathic colleges, and shamanic training centers, as well as speaking at many conferences. She is the author of four books, Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year; Healing Wise; New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way; and Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way.

Some chapters of Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way are published online. At Weed's site, she has a series of articles published, including Eight Steps for a Woman Dancing with Cancer. Here are a few of the steps she recommends for women facing breast cancer.

• Submit. Give up. Make room for the miracle.
• Inform yourself. Listen to your intuition. Examine all the options, but only use what feels right to you.
• Accept support. Surround yourself with loving friends, healing music, special colors, prayer and affirmation.
• Maximize the healthy qualities of your diet.
• Increase you exercise level. Take a yoga or tai chi class weekly. Walk daily. Get a weekly massage. Pamper yourself with activity.
  

To read more about the steps, and other articles, you can visit Susun Weed's comprehensive site of herbal information and psychology of healing for women's health.

Mike Adams starts Lying with statistics: How conventional medicine confuses the public by posing this question, "Which drug would you rather take? One that reduces your risk of cancer by 50 percent, or another drug that only eliminates cancer in one out of 100 people?" He believes most people would choose the drug that reduces the risk by half.

But both of these choices refer to the same drug and the same outcome. Curious? Here's how Adams explains it. Let's say a new breast cancer drug is being tested and there are 100 women in the clinical trial. At the beginning of the trial, two women are expected to get breast cancer. The other 98 women are not even expected to get breast cancer. Just two of them. At the end of the trial, only one woman gets breast cancer. If you interpret the results of this trial by absolute risk, then the reduction of breast cancer is one woman out of 100. However, if you interpret the results by relative risk -- that out of two women only one got breast cancer -- then the reduction of breast cancer with the new breast cancer drug being tested is an incredible 50 percent.

Remember, at the beginning of the trial, the researchers hypothesized that two women would get breast cancer and since only one did get breast cancer -- one out of two equals 50 percent. Now, if you are a pharmaceutical company who wants to extol the virtues of this new experimental drug, which risk -- absolute or relative -- would you use? Especially if you are trying to grab the interest and support of financial backers and the public? Relative -- of course. It sounds better. And it's true.

However, if you want to discredit a drug or therapy, you would use absolute risk. You would refer to the therapy in a framework of absolute risk. The one out of 100 statistical outcome, as in, it doesn't work very well -- only one out of 100 showed benefit from use. Adams points out this happens all the time when conventional medicine refers to claims made by alternative therapies in say, herbal remedies. And it's true. Nothing about absolute or relative risk is untrue but each can give a vastly different impression of what is true. Before you read another health news headline about another research study or new drug, go read his commentary in its entirety. It will make you pause -- it will make you think twice -- it will prompt you to ask, "what are we talking here -- absolute or relative risk?"

In December, a woman asked Dr. Weil if turmeric can prevent breast cancer. Dr. Weil cited research done by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston that reported curcumin, an active component in turmeric, does seem to have properties in preventing breast cancer. That study focused on the spread of breast cancer to the lungs. Using mice, the researchers discovered curcumin prevented the spread of breast cancer to the lungs in 50 percent of the mice; when Taxol was used in combination with curcumin, the prevention went up to almost 80 percent. In conclusion, the suggestion was made that women with a family history of breast cancer should be advised to include curcumin in their diet.

During Dr. Weil's discussion on curcumin, he states that people whose diets are rich in turmeric have lower rates of breast cancer as well as prostate, lung and colon cancers. Curcumin seems to be a cancer prevention spice for cancer. I became a fan of Dr. Weil when he first became a public celebrity and authority on health and nutrition because of his traditional and modern approach to medicine. In his expert opinion, he argues that isolating a single compound limits the amount of knowledge we can learn from the study of food, herbs and spices because the synergy of all active elements are missed in the equation. In the case of curcumin, he says, "I wish researchers would get off the reductionistic bandwagon and come around to appreciate the inherent complexity of nature. Whole turmeric extracts are the way to go; I always recommend them to patients rather than products containing isolated curcumin." The whole will always be stronger than its parts, and it is the interconnection of all parts that give the truest definition to the whole.