$Unique_ID{BRK01470}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{What Can "Evening Primrose Oil" be Used For?}
$Subject{evening primrose oil fda ill defined symptoms symptom medicine
arthritis generally recognized as safe gras premenstrual breast tenderness
asthma multiple sclerosis medicines medication medications tonic tonics
treatment treatments treating treat}
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Copyright (c) 1991-92,1993   Tribune Media Services, Inc.


What Can "Evening Primrose Oil" be Used For?


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QUESTION:  Can you please tell me what "evening primrose oil" can be used for,
as a medicine?  My girl friend, who has arthritis, swears by it, but I can't
seem to find much information about it in the books I have searched through.
I hope you will be able to help me out.

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ANSWER:  Not much of anything, as far as I can determine.  And the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) seems to have the same opinion.  In fact the agency
has issued an "import alert" which empowers its agents to confiscate any
shipments of the product where the label claims medical effectiveness.  In
addition, the FDA does not regard evening primrose oil to be "generally
recognized as safe" (GRAS), because manufacturers have failed to provide the
agency with any safety information.  Although promoted as useful in a number
of conditions, arthritis, premenstrual breast tenderness, asthma, multiple
sclerosis, reports in the medical literature of investigations fail to provide
conclusive evidence of any benefits.  These expensive tablets (about $12 for
50 tabs) still get into the country and on to the shelves, as the manufactures
no longer place any claims on the labels.

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The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician.  Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.