Health pros' personal dietary supp use study

The USA-based Council for Responsible Nutrition has announced research to be published in November that addresses what it terms "a major knowledge gap in the $21.4 billion diet supplement industry." The campaign, titled "Life...supplemented" is sponsoring significant new research among health care professionals to better understand their personal use of dietary supplements and how it may impact the way they counsel their patients about dietary supplements.

The on-line survey has been developed with Ipsos, a market research and opinion polling firm. Results of the survey, carried out during September, are expected to be released in early November, the CRN said.

Steve Mister, the CRN's president, said: "a search of the current medical literature reveals less than a dozen articles in peer-reviewed publications on the subject of personal use of supplements among clinicians, with papers published since 2000 clearly reflecting a growing interest in the topic among academicians."