ABSTRACT
Vanadyl sulphate (VOSO4) is used to improve performance in weight training athletes. Concerns about its safety have arisen because vanadium compounds may cause anaemia and changes in the leukocyte system. In this study, the effects of oral VOSO4 (0.5 mg/kg/day) on haematological indices (red and white cell and platelet counts, red cell mean cell volume and haemoglobin level), blood viscosity (haematocrit, plasma viscosity and blood viscosity at 10s-1 and 100s-1 shear rates) and biochemistry (lipids and indices of liver and kidney function) were investigated in a twelve week, double blind, placebo controlled trial in 31 weight training athletes. Blood viscosity was evaluated at 0, 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks and haematological indices and biochemistry were measured before and at the end of treatment. Both the treatment group and placebo group showed increases in haematocrit (3.3-3.6%) and blood viscosity (9-11% at 100s-1 shear; 35-38% at 10s-1 shear) but there were no significant effects of treatment. Similarly there were no treatment effects on haematological indices and biochemistry. Concerns about the adverse effects of oral vanadyl sulphate on blood are not supported by the results of this trial.
Subject(s)
Blood Cells/drug effects , Blood Viscosity/drug effects , Hypoglycemic Agents/pharmacology , Vanadium Compounds/pharmacology , Weight Lifting , Adult , Blood Cell Count , Blood Chemical Analysis , Blood Pressure/drug effects , Body Weight/drug effects , Female , Hematocrit , Humans , Hypoglycemic Agents/administration & dosage , Male , Vanadium Compounds/administration & dosageABSTRACT
Children who are taking long-term sugar-containing liquid medicines have an increased risk of developing dental caries. A recent survey of paediatric liquid medicines in New Zealand revealed that over half of the prescribed and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines for children contain sugar. Only one-third of the sugar-free medicines were labelled as such, and only one-quarter were stated to be sugar-free in the New Ethicals Catalogue. Recommendations for limiting caries in these children include: where possible, taking the medicine in tablet form; brushing with toothpaste or chewing sugar-free gum after taking the medicine; home and dental-office fluoride applications; where possible, taking medicines at meal-times rather than between meals; avoiding ingestion of the medicine before bed; and seeking regular preventive dental care. Awareness of the danger posed by these medications should be promoted among prescribers, pharmacists, manufacturers, regulatory authorities, and the public in order to bring about increased availability and use of sugar-free liquid medicines.
Subject(s)
Dental Care for Children , Dental Caries/etiology , Pharmaceutical Vehicles/adverse effects , Sucrose/adverse effects , Administration, Oral , Child , Dental Caries/prevention & control , Drug Prescriptions , Health Promotion , Humans , Legislation, Pharmacy , New Zealand , Nonprescription Drugs , Pharmaceutical Vehicles/administration & dosage , Pharmaceutical Vehicles/chemistry , Pharmacists , Professional Practice , Sweetening Agents/administration & dosageABSTRACT
The effects of oral vanadyl sulfate (VOSO4) (0.5 mg/kg/day) on anthropometry, body composition, and performance were investigated in a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving weight-training volunteers. Performance was assessed in the treatment (VS) and placebo (P) groups using 1 and 10 repetitions maximum (RM) for the bench press and leg extension. Thirty-one subjects completed the trial, with 2 VS subjects withdrawing because of apparent side effects. There were no significant treatment effects for anthropometric parameters and body composition during the trial. Both groups had significant improvements in performance but the only significant effect of treatment was a Treatment x Time interaction in the 1 RM leg extension (p = .002), which could have arisen because the VS group had a lower performance at baseline in this test. It was concluded that oral vanadyl sulfate was ineffective in changing body composition in weight-training athletes, and any modest performance-enhancing effect requires further investigation.
Subject(s)
Body Composition/drug effects , Hypoglycemic Agents/pharmacology , Physical Exertion , Vanadium Compounds/pharmacology , Weight Lifting , Absorptiometry, Photon , Administration, Oral , Adult , Anthropometry , Double-Blind Method , Female , Humans , Hypoglycemic Agents/administration & dosage , Male , Vanadium Compounds/administration & dosageABSTRACT
A solvent-soluble membrane filter is proposed for the simple and rapid preconcentration and spectrophotometric determination of ascorbic acid based on the reduction of 1, 10-phenanthroline (phen)-iron (III), which is collected on a nitrocellulose membrane filter as an ion-associate of the cationic complex of tri,phen-iron (II) [ferroin, Fe(phen)(2+)(3)] with an anionic surfactant (of dodecyl sulfate). The ion-associate collected is dissolved in a small volume of 2-methoxyethanol together with the filter. The colour intensity is measured at 510 nm against the reagent blank and is proportional to the content of ascorbic acid in the range 2.5-50 microg ascorbic acid in 5 ml of solvent with excellent reproducibility (RSD 3.2% for 200 microg 1(-1) ascorbic acid), the enrichment factor achieves 100-fold and detection limits better than 2.0 microg 1(-1) can be obtained. Diverse components of organic and inorganic compounds normally present in fruits, vegetable, beverages and urine do not interfere. The recoveries of the ascorbic acid added to the samples are quantitative.
