Prelief


Prelief® is a dietary supplement that is used to make eating and drinking acidic foods and drinks more tolerable.

A large number off foods can cause extreme discomfort for some people. This is also true of some drinks, with effects such as urinary pain, urgency and frequency being experienced. Symptoms can also include diarrhoea. Prelief® aims to remove the acid from these foods and drinks.

Prelief® comes in two forms. It is available either as tablets or as a powder.

Prelief is calcium glycerophosphate, a food-grade mineral classified as a dietary supplement, for use with acidic foods and beverages for more comfortable eating. You simply take 2 tablets 3 times a day; it is best to take them with meals. Also, you can take 2 tablets at bedtime if desired. You can use more tablets as needed. If you prefer to use Prelief powder instead of tablets, simply add an 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of powder to each serving of acidic food or beverage.

Prelief does not change the flavour of most foods. When detectable at all, the sole change is a slight reduction in the food's acid "bite".

Prelief® is not currently available in the UK, but may be ordered directly from the manufacturers, AkPharma inc, of New Jersey, America, on telephone no. 001 609 645 5100, or via their website at www.prelief.com

Prelief® UK Trial - A report


A report in the ICA (America) ‘update’ newsletter in 1998 outlined the benefits of taking Prelief® to sufferers of IC. A study was set up in 1999 in the UK to test the claims made, and to see if charity members could gain therapeutic benefit by taking Prelief®. The study has now been concluded and a report on the conduct of the study and the results are below.

Aim

To investigate the. effects and improvement on symptoms of IC achieved through the oral administration of Prelief® with food and beverages.

Background

Prelief® is a dietary supplement that helps reduce acid in foods and beverages, thus ren­dering them more tolerable to IC sufferers. In the USA where Prelief® is available ‘over the counter’, prospective and retrospective studies have shown that Prelief® is of posi­tive value in allowing IC patients consumption of foods with an acid content.

A maximum of 150 charity members were invited through their newsletter to take part in the study. The members that responded were sent information sheets giving” Pro­cedure for entry onto the charity Prelief® Survey”, “Instruction form” and “ Logging forms”. Those members that met the criteria for being accepted into the survey were sent 3 months supply of Prelief® in both powder and tablet form. At the end of 3 months, recruits were sent a Prelief® Questionnaire, which summarised the results kept on the logging forms, and other information regarding their perceived effects of Prelief®. These were returned to the Prelief® Survey coordinator by Dec 31st 1999.

Thirty two people were recruited into the study, and twenty six completed the result monitoring forms. Two of the participants were male, the average age was 53, and the average duration of IC symptoms for participants was 15 years.

At the commencement of the trial period, the most reported IC symptoms suffered by participants were: Urinary Frequency (93%). Urinary Urgency (89%), Bladder Pain (86%), Back Pain (64%) and Excessive Fatigue (46%).

64% of participants in the study found an improvement in their symptoms, and they were asked to grade the improvement on a scale of 1 to 4 at the conclusion of the trial, with 1 being slight improvement to 4 being completely disappeared. The most significant improvements were: Urinary Frequency (48%. average improvement = 2). Urinary Urgency (26%, average improvement = 2) and Bladder Pain (19%. average improvement = 2).

Participants were also asked if they would wish to continue taking Prelief® after the trial, and if so how frequently. 38% said they would take Prelief® daily. 31% would take it 3 or more times a week, and 4% would take it weekly. The remaining 27% reported that they would no longer take Prelief®.

In addition to the relief of symptoms, 81% of participants found that they could toler­ate at least one food or beverage that they could not take before the trial without a flare in their IC symptoms. The most widely reported foods that could now be toler­ated were: Tomatoes (42%), Tea/Coffee (38%), White Wine (27%). Cheese (23%). Fruit Juice (15%), Apples (15%), Curry (15%) and Mayonnaise (15%).

Summary of results

Participants in this trial were mainly female, which reflects the membership of the charity. There was a very wide distribution of age, duration of symptoms and type of symptom experienced.

This trial has indicated that the majority of participants found Prelief® to be beneficial in reducing their IC symptoms (69%) and enabling them to tolerate a wider variety of foods and beverages of an acidic nature (81%). Of those taking part. 73% stated that they would continue to take Prelief® if given the opportunity at least once a week, and 37% would continue to use it daily.

Comments

There was an initial disappointing uptake of the trial, with substantially fewer volun­teers than the 150 planned. This may have been due to a reluctance to try acid foods and risk side effects. It may be that the profile of those members who came forward was different than those who were more reticent. However, I consider this trial was a success in that it showed that a benign supplement, with none of the side effects of a pharmaceutical drug, was able to help the majority of participants. It confirms that Prelief® can help certain sections of the charity membership. The range of improvement. and the type and quantity of food made more tolerable varied tremendously, but the results indicate that it is probably to the benefit of most charity members to at least try Prelief® to see if it can help them.


Pamela Jones, Nutrition Consultant, January 2000