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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Tinnitus / May 2006Kombucha Tea on PUBMED
PUBMED has 16 readable studies on Kombucha at this point in time. Last study was September 2004. I've summarized what I found. Short quote is provided to back my interpretation. PUBMED is a database maintained by the US National Instutute of Health. NEGATIVE CONCLUSIONS: 4 POSITIVE CONCLUSIONS: 2 POSTIVES FOR RODENTS ONLY: 3 INFORMATIONAL: 4 NO CONCLUSION: 3 UNREADABLE: 4 Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=search&term=Kombucha NEGATIVE 1 Derk CT, Sandorfi N, Curtis MT. A case of anti-Jo1 myositis with pleural effusions and pericardial tamponade developing after exposure to a fermented Kombucha beverage. "Kombucha 'mushroom', a symbiosis of yeast and bacteria, is postulated to be the trigger for our patient's disease owing to the proximity of his symptoms to the consumption of the Kombucha beverage." INFORMATIONAL: IDENTIFIES Yeast cultures 2 Int J Food Microbiol. 2004 Sep 1;95(2):119-26. POSITIVE 3 Biomed Environ Sci. 2003 Sep;16(3):276-82. Lead induced oxidative stress: beneficial effects of Kombucha tea. "CONCLUSION: The results suggest that K-tea has potent antioxidant and immunomodulating properties." NO CONCLUSIONS 4 Syst Appl Microbiol. 1998 Mar;21(2):220-9. Acetobacter intermedius, sp. nov. NEGATIVE 5 Forsch Komplementarmed Klass Naturheilkd. 2003 Apr;10(2):85-7. Kombucha: a systematic review of the clinical evidence. "the largely undetermined benefits do not outweigh the documented risks of kombucha. It can therefore not be recommended for therapeutic use." INFORMATIONAL 6 FEMS Yeast Res. 2001 Jul;1(2):133-8. Related Articles, Links Zygosaccharomyces kombuchaensis, a new ascosporogenous yeast from 'Kombucha tea'. POSITIVE 7 Biomed Environ Sci. 2001 Sep;14(3):207-13. Studies on toxicity, anti-stress and hepato-protective properties of Kombucha tea. "K-tea has anti-stress and hepato-protective activities." POSITIVE FOR RATS 8 Biomed Environ Sci. 2000 Dec;13(4):293-9. Subacute (90 days) oral toxicity studies of Kombucha tea. "rats fed KT for 90 days showed no toxic effects." FERMENTATION TIME INFO. NO CONCLUSIONS 9 J Appl Microbiol. 2000 Nov;89(5):834-9. Changes in major components of tea fungus metabolites during prolonged fermentation. "the desired quality or composition of kombucha can be obtained through the proper control of fermentation time." POSITIVE FOR MICE. UNKNOWN FOR PEOPLE 10 Nutrition. 2000 Sep;16(9):755-61. Effects of chronic kombucha ingestion on open-field behaviors, longevity, appetitive behaviors, and organs in c57-bl/6 mice: a pilot study. "This pilot study reports longevity, general health, and open-field exploratory behavioral outcomes... Comparable effects and mechanisms in humans remain uncertain, as do health safety issues, because serious health problems and fatalities have been reported and attributed to drinking kombucha" NO STUDY CITED 11 J Food Prot. 2000 Jul;63(7):976-81. Kombucha, the fermented tea: microbiology, composition, and claimed health effects. "Kombucha consumption has proven to be harmful in several documented instances." POSITIVE IN RATS 12 J Ethnopharmacol. 2000 Jul;71(1-2):235-40. Effect of Kombucha tea on chromate(VI)-induced oxidative stress in albino rats. "Kombucha tea has potent anti-oxidant and immunopotentiating activities." PROPERTIES STUDY 13 J Agric Food Chem. 2000 Jun;48(6):2589-94. Kombucha fermentation and its antimicrobial activity. "Kombucha proved to exert antimicrobial activities against E. coli, Sh. sonnei, Sal. typhimurium, Sal. enteritidis, and Cm. jejuni ... suggests the presence of antimicrobial compounds other than acetic acid and large proteins in Kombucha." 14 Laier B. (in Danish. No abstract) 15 Ishida Y (no abstract) NO CONCLUSION about K 16 Med J Aust. 1998 Dec 7-21;169(11-12):644-6. Lead poisoning from drinking Kombucha tea brewed in a ceramic pot. "symptomatic lead poisoning requiring chelation therapy in a married couple who had been drinking Kombucha tea for six months, brewing the tea in a ceramic pot." UNKNOWN CONCLUSION 17 JAMA. 1998 Nov 11;280(18):1567-8. Related Articles, Links Cutaneous anthrax associated with the Kombucha "mushroom" in Iran. No Abstract NEGATIVE 18 J Gen Intern Med. 1997 Oct;12(10):643-4. Probable gastrointestinal toxicity of Kombucha tea: is this beverage healthy or harmful? "use of Kombucha tea in proximity to onset of symptoms and symptom resolution on cessation of tea drinking suggest a probable etiologic association." NEGATIVE 20 MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1995 Dec 8;44(48):892-3, 899-900. Unexplained severe illness possibly associated with consumption of Kombucha tea--Iowa, 1995. "persons refrain from drinking Kombucha tea until the role of the tea in the two cases of illness had been evaluated fully" Do you have a picture of what it looks like? Do a google image search for 'kombucha tea'. Plenty of pictures there. Apparently it's packaged very nicely for sale by seveal outfits. The pubmed literature leaves me skeptical. This is another case where it would be nice to see feedback & testimonials from a large number of people who drink this tea. > Do a google image search for 'kombucha tea'. Plenty of pictures there. > Apparently it's packaged very nicely for sale by seveal outfits. The > pubmed literature leaves me skeptical. This is another case where it > would be nice to see feedback & testimonials from a large number of > people who drink this tea. Yes, it is easy to mess up when you brew the stuff, too. You cannot let metal touch any of the ingredients. You have to boil the water in a glass pot, use a wooden spoon to stir. You even have to be sure the tea bags don't have those little staples on them. If you let it ferment without a good covering on it, you can be growing dangerous microorganisms along with your tea. Back when I did this, it was THE THING! Everybody was doing it, and then they started coming out with all kinds of warnings. I told you it was an outrageous thing I'd tried. Don't know if I'd ever do it again either. It would be nice to have a good study on it, tho. I cannt find the Chinese name for it. It sounds like 'gold treasure tea' to me from the sound of it. On 5/18/06 8:43 AM, in article 1147967016.952290.93220@38g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, "jga.socal" <jganders@gmail.com> wrote: > Do a google image search for 'kombucha tea'. Plenty of pictures there. > Apparently it's packaged very nicely for sale by seveal outfits. The > pubmed literature leaves me skeptical. This is another case where it > would be nice to see feedback & testimonials from a large number of > people who drink this tea. Yes, especially pictures of happy smiling handsome faces that accompany well written testimonials in perfect english and spelling. Those modern doctors who injected all sorts of dangerous solution into my body were also well groomed and smiling, and so did those who prescribed all sorts of useless med to me for megabugs. Appearance is very deceitful! > Those modern doctors who injected all sorts of dangerous solution into > my body were also well groomed and smiling, and so did those who > prescribed all sorts of useless med to me for megabugs. Appearance is > very deceitful! You mean deceiving. There certainly are bad doctors. You seem to have run into more than your share. Is this typical of Chinese medicine? During the onset of my T, I visited about 15 'modern' doctors or doctors who practice western medicine here in China and Hong Kong. Some are ENT, some neurologists, and the rest general physicians. Most of their advices were either useless or even harmful! Out of all their treatments and advices, the only things useful were (1)betahistine, (2)gingko biloba, and (3)hot spring bath. Each one comes from a different doctor. I also went to visit 2 Chinese herbalists. None of them prescribed me gingko biloba. I did not have enough patience to go through their herb treatment as my T was like a tormenting hell and i was looking for a quick fix. Finally, I accidentally ran into an acupuncturist in Vancouver of Canada. After 2 treatments, all that 'somatic' discomfort in my head I had been complaining in this ng was gone! I think i was suffering from a nerve illness that existed side by side with my T. Once the head discomfort was gone, the T right away became much softer but was still there. It has been improving ever since....I should have gone for an acupuncture treatment when I was in China at that time but the stupid 'controlled' studies cited around in this ng sort of discouraged me from trying it out. I am going to have hot spring vacation again... >During the onset of my T, I visited about 15 'modern' doctors or >doctors who practice western medicine here in China and Hong Kong. Some [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >(2)gingko biloba, and (3)hot spring bath. Each one comes from a >different doctor. Why did you visit 15 doctors for tinnitus? >I also went to visit 2 Chinese herbalists. None of them prescribed me >gingko biloba. I did not have enough patience to go through their herb [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >I am going to have hot spring vacation again... It was because none of them was able to release me from my tormenting illness or 'torturing chamber'. Finally I took the initiativeness to take hydrochloridethiazer out of my high blood pressure regimen and the sky was finally clear! I had suspected it was raising hell for me but when I asked around no doctor was in agreement or at a loss to know. One day, when I was in my ENT office, I saw a pamphlet hanging on the wall warning people about the kinds of medication that affect ear hearing. One of the medicines listed as possibly causing hearing disability is direutics. That was why I did it. So the old camp of trouble was gone but another camp of trouble came after HCTZ had been taken out. I felt pressure on my left head side. And it felt like a cluster of somatic discomfort that moved from side to side in my hear. When it was on my right side, it was bearable, but then it went to my left side, it was very difficult to bear. The doctors in this ng and my doctor in HK suspected it was excessive inner fluid. And a doctor here commented it was seizure while another disagreed. None of the doctors I visited knew what it was. A neurologist commented it was a blood vein being blocked so he prescribed me with intravenous injection of very dangerous blood thinning solution. It was useful for a few days and after a few days the trouble came back again. Life was a living hell to me! Then finally I talked to a doctor about my case and he prescribed me another kind of diuretics. This time the new kind was OK. It softened the T sound and alleviated the 'somatic' discomfort but the latter was still there and was still moving from side to side in my head. I thought that was what life was going to be from that moment onward until my daughter in Vancouver mentioned an acupuncturist whom her classmates call 'magic doctor'. This lady acupuncturist graduated from the Imperial College of Chinese Medicine in Peking. After two treatments, one on left and ther other one on the right, the discomfort was 90% gone! Now is is 99% gone! I asked her what the problem was. She said that it was due to a pinched nerve in the spine, and she ran into cases similar to that in Peking from people who sit in front of the computer for prolonged time period with improper head posture. There it goes..Now, I am no longer using pillow but only a large towel wrapped to support my neck. 'You see, if i had not been under the influence of all that controlled studies cited around in this ng, i would have gone for acupuncture treatment while i was in China and would have had my problem taken care of much more early. >It was because none of them was able to release me from my tormenting >illness or 'torturing chamber'. But didn't any of those 15 doctors tell you there is no specific medicinal cure for tinnitus? 15 doctors in a row were that bad? I'm in Norway. I went to my general MD, when I got tinnitus. He and I agreed to rule out infection, so I took some antibiotics and some medicine to reduce swelling and inflamation. No change. He sent me to an ENT. He examined my ears and found nothing wrong. He tested my hearing and said I didn't have the hearing pattern of a person with tinnitus, but (and here is the important point), he said tinnitus is not that well understood and there is no specific cure. He said there are lots of things to try, and he suggested some of them, but he didn't prescribe anything. So that was it. Why would I go to 14 more doctors to be told the same thing? Why didn't any of the doctors you saw tell you that? > Finally I took the initiativeness to >take hydrochloridethiazer out of my high blood pressure regimen and the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >taken out. I felt pressure on my left head side. And it felt like a >cluster of somatic discomfort that moved from side to side in my hear. Wait a minute. Are you saying your heart doctor didn't tell you about the problems that could be caused by the medications he prescribed? That has never happened to me either, but I always ask about side effects when I am prescribed new medication? >When it was on my right side, it was bearable, but then it went to my >left side, it was very difficult to bear. The doctors in this ng and my [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >posture. There it goes..Now, I am no longer using pillow but only a >large towel wrapped to support my neck. The first place I looked, after the ENT told me I was pretty much on my own, was this ng. I immediately found the advice about neck problems being a sometime cause of tinnitus. So I went back to my MD and asked him to prescribe an MRI to determine whether I had neck damage. The MRI showed neck damage, so I went to a physio therapist to get help with that. I can't say for sure whether it lowered the T, but it did lower the neck pain. So I started swimming again. I used to swim a lot. Swimming makes my T disappear and swimming exercises the neck muscles a lot and it relaxes the neck and back muscles. >'You see, if i had not been under the influence of all that controlled >studies cited around in this ng, i would have gone for acupuncture >treatment while i was in China and would have had my problem taken care >of much more early. You were under your own control all along, and you are trying to blame all the doctors you demanded a cure from. Nobody goes to 15 doctors unless they believe doctors can fix everything. (1)No, none of these doctor told me there is no specific cure for tinnitus. A psychologist in a mental hospital did once tell me that when a T gets old, it is incurable in terms of its staying there for a long long time. But other doctors disagreed. I actually talked to one patient whose T was totally cured! So why should I believe things the way you believe? How you choose to believe things is a function of your environment and experiences which differ from mine hugely. (2)None of the doctors I went to told me about the relationship between drug interaction and tinnitus. These are not just the doctors practicing western medicine in China, but some are the glamorous ones in the Adventist Hospital in Hong Kong. (3)I also came to this ng and discovered the concept of somatic tinnitus. That was why I went to check out with a chiro. It relaxed my spine but the discomfort in my head was still there. (4)Then Martin exploded:"You were under your own control all along, and you are trying to blame all the doctors you demanded a cure from. Nobody goes to 15 doctors unless they believe doctors can fix everything." Martin, how do you know that? Who are you to lecture me? Have you done a survey of patients 'all over the world' to have come to the conclusion that "Nobody goes to 15 doctors unless they believe doctors can fix everything." You don't set up your own rules and use them to measure against other people's ways of doing things. The world we live in is very large and you are generalizing for the whole world in such a way that is reminiscient of those principle-oriented/small-minded British in Hong Kong. The latter are not even very intellectual people. Bye... > (1)No, none of these doctor told me there is no specific cure for > tinnitus. A psychologist in a mental hospital did once tell me that [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > way you believe? How you choose to believe things is a function of > your environment and experiences which differ from mine hugely. But you went to 15 doctors, and they all told you something different. If it had been me, after being told 6 or 7 different stories by different doctors, I'm sure I would have realized there was no point in going to more doctors. > (2)None of the doctors I went to told me about the relationship between > drug interaction and tinnitus. These are not just the doctors > practicing western medicine in China, but some are the glamorous ones > in the Adventist Hospital in Hong Kong. Did you ask them? > (3)I also came to this ng and discovered the concept of somatic > tinnitus. That was why I went to check out with a chiro. It relaxed [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Martin, how do you know that? You went to 15 different doctors and got 15 different stories. Nobody made you go to the 15th doctor after getting 14 different stories from 14 different doctors. You chose to do it. > Who are you to lecture me? Have you > done a survey of patients 'all over the world' to have come to the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Bye... >>Yes, especially pictures of happy smiling handsome faces that accompany well written testimonials in perfect english and spelling. Assuming your comment is serious... I dont know why you are so cynical of testimonials from real people. Perhaps your training has taught you to disregard what the patient says? Shall doctors put muzzles on their patients and just read the numbers from the tests to arrive at the diagnoses? Perhaps you should become familiar with some of the social sciences too. For instance, there are techniques poll and survey professionals employ to screen out biased responses. In small surveys bias can be a problem. When the response set becomes large the bias effect becomes negligible. Where should I be more concerned about bias? A) Survey results from people with afflictions who have tried alternatives and who generally have no reason to mislead? B) Recommendations by medical professionals who are often financially engaged with drug companies offering FDA approved solutions? Hint: Its fairly easy to spot disingenuousness when reading through survey responses. A more direct resolution to your concerns may be to simply disqualify survey responses from anyone who cracks a smile (picture required) and/or where the response has no english grammatical, spelling, or syntax errors. IE: Exclude happy, educated people. :-) > >>Yes, especially pictures of happy smiling handsome faces that accompany well > written testimonials in perfect english and spelling. [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > syntax errors. IE: Exclude happy, educated people. > :-) The problem with many companies touting "testimonials" is that it is unknown just how honest and accurate these testimonials really are. Most times it is impossible to check the veracity of these testimonials so these can range from being outright ficticious to just being paid endorsements. So one has no idea if these are actually "real" people or just plants.And even if the testimonials were legitimate, one doesn't know if those that are listed were outweighed by the hundreds or thousands of customers who were disatisfied (obviously the company would keep this hidden). These companies usually do not hire independent researchers to scientifically poll those who have tried or used whatever product. There was a magazine publication that recently showed the picture of the very same woman (but different names) in three different ads (one in a diet pill breakthrough, another for a sleep aid and I forget the third ad). So it looks like the companies used a stock photo and just changed the first name and voila, instant testimonials. A few yrs back I was getting estimates for a new fence and this one company was very impressive with two full pages of references and testimonials.I was curious and checked 6-7 "testimonials" around my side of town. Every single one showed a made-up address and the one that had a valid address had NO fence at all. Needless to say, I didn't use that company but if one didn't actually check like I did one would have assumed that this was one great fencing contractor. I'd bet you anything that if you tried to get actual names and phone numbers of testimonials from say, any alternative health medication, whether diet aids or tinnitus herbs, from these ads you get nowhere. frank drfrank wrote: "The problem with many companies touting "testimonials" is that it is unknown just how honest and accurate these testimonials really are." Totally agree. I'm referring to unbiased testimonials, not company sponsored. > drfrank wrote: > "The problem with many companies touting "testimonials" is that it is > unknown just how honest and accurate these testimonials really are." > > Totally agree. I'm referring to unbiased testimonials, not company > sponsored. And part of the problem is that it can difficult to tell the difference between the "unbiased" testimonials and those that are not legitimate and that's why the scientific studies may be more worthwhile. frank A word about this topic. I posted the Kombucha topic because Kombucha tea, aka K-Tea has come up in this ng several times over the years as a treatment for T. I thought I'd help out by posting a summary of studies done on K-Tea as published in PubMed. Whether PubMed is a good source of sientific studies may be another topic but I know it is a widely used resource for medical professionals in this country. The purpose of the K-Tea post was just a FYI. Reading thru PubMed technical abstracts is not a fun thing to do. Hopefully a summary of the abstracts was helpful to those considering the value of taking K-Tea for their T. Jim Oh crap! The link I provided may not work for you. 1. Go to NCBI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ 2. Near top: Search 'All Databases' for 'Kombucha'. Click [Go] 3. Resulting page, top left, should say 26 results for PubMed. Click it. 4. If the resulting page says 'No items found', uncheck the [X] Limits box and search again. Thanx
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