Our "elixir of youth" – fuflomycin? Kindly sue!
The effectiveness of the "elixir of youth" may be proved in courtDmitry Tselikov, Compulenta
The Slovenian company Regiopharma, which produces antioxidant pills, which some media dubbed the "elixir of youth", threatens to sue scientists who have publicly spoken out against the product, calling it insufficiently tested.
The tablets are a mixture of four antioxidants: resveratrol, oligomeric proanthocyanidins, lycopene and green tea extract. The drug is called Energiser HPE 40 or ADR. He was presented at a press conference in Zagreb on October 20. Miroslav Radman, a French scientist of Croatian origin, known for his work on DNA repair and bacterial cell death, also spoke in favor of pills at the briefing. He is one of the founders and head of the Mediterranean Institute of Life Sciences (MedILS).
So, this scientist told the media that his group tested the pills at the cellular level and discovered their powerful antioxidant properties. Mr. Radman also noted that he took the drug, after which he felt more energetic.
The scientific community did not turn a blind eye to such behavior. Ivan Dikic (also a Croatian immigrant), director of the Second Institute of Biochemistry at the Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main and director of the Frankfurt Institute for the Study of Life Sciences at the Molecular Level, publicly criticized the product and personally Mr. Radman. A few days after the press conference, he explained to journalists that his colleague had not published the results of the study in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, no one has seen the results of clinical trials that would confirm the firm's claims that the new product is safe and slows down the aging process.
In response to criticism (or, better to say, a statement of the obvious), Regiopharma threatened "in case of further dissemination of false information that the product is a fraudulent trick and intimidation of the public with statements about potential negative consequences" to confirm the effectiveness and safety of the drug in court. It's strange – after all, it could have been done much easier, and in advance.
Mr. Dikic, however, stated that he was not going to retract his words, because he did not understand what he had said so wrong. "I'm just defending science," the expert said.
Mr. Radman promises that the results of the tests conducted at MedILS will be made public on December 1 at the first World Summit on Medicinal Food and Medicinal Nutrition http://www.medicalized-food.com /, which will be held in Paris. In the meantime, it looks like another sad story about how big business earns money from unfounded statements presented as a scientific sensation, and in case of criticism, it transfers from a sick head to a healthy one.
Mr. Radman talks about miracle pills:
Prepared by ScienceNOW: 'Elixir of Youth' Sparks Clash of Croatian Scientists
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
08.11.2011