Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc. (fka RCPIQ)

[Buddhahead]

"A nutraceutical a day may keep the doctor away"
. Article in U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Excerpt from the article:
"“The consumption of food supplements in the USA, Europe and Japan is roughly a US$170 billion industry,” according to Peter Baskauskas, national sales manager of Quality of Life Labs (Purchase, NY, USA). “The US accounts for about US$75 billion of that.” This figure is higher than that cited by the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA; Newport Beach, CA, USA), which stated that functional food and supplement sales were US$41.7 billion in 2003. Regardless of the exact figures, market reports observe that the interest in nutraceuticals is growing rapidly worldwide. In the USA alone, about 6 out of 10 consumers take some type of food supplement, and 30%–40% take herbal supplements. Whereas about a decade ago, most people took either drugs or supplements, there is now an increasing crossover between the factions, and even some physicians are recommending natural products before prescribing pharmaceuticals. Driving this boom is consumer disappointment with Western medicine and a strong interest in improving health and well-being. “The trend also reflects the growth of a new paradigm of 'self-care',” according to Fergus Clydesdale, head of the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst, MA, USA).

Driving this boom is consumer disappointment with Western medicine and a strong interest in improving health and well-being

A 2001 poll by Harris Interactive (Rochester, NY, USA) revealed that 72% of those surveyed in the USA take supplements to feel better, 67% to prevent illness, 50% to live longer, 37% to build muscle and strength, 12% for weight management and 33% on the advice of a physician. Significantly, 53% said that nutraceuticals offer benefits not matched by conventional drugs, and 56% said they offered benefits comparable with drugs but with fewer side effects. Remarkably, 95% were satisfied with supplements "

Article at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1369156/