Consumer Alerts
Fibronol® and FibroBoost®
The main ingredient in Fibronol contains a special extract from brown algae, along with aloe vera, magnesium, malic acid, and vitamin B1. The manufacturer and promoters of this product say it improves sleep, boosts energy, and promotes pain relief. They state that their products provide "nutritional support to improve the quality of life for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome patients." These claims are based on a clinical study involving 36 fibromyalgia patients, with only six of them taking a placebo for comparison purposes (and they only took the placebo for two weeks, while the group taking Fibronol were on this supplement for 60 days). A summary of the study is posted on Fibronol’s website (www.fibronol.com); there is no formal publication in a medical journal to judge the validity of their claims (i.e., you will not find it on PubMed).
How can you determine if the study claims for fibromyalgia treatment are accurate? The Fibronol folks cite a medical journal article that can be purchased for $10. This article has absolutely nothing to do with Fibronol, and falsely leads people to believe that the clinical trial must have been meticulously performed and peer-reviewed.
The manufacturers of Fibronol, and its cousin product, FibroBoost (also an algae extract), do provide an interesting diagram on how the two supplements work their wonders to relieve fibromyalgia symptoms. While the diagram is impressive, there is no evidence to support any of the claims. For example, they say that by increasing sleep, the product increases the production of growth hormone. There is absolutely no data to show this. In fact, the clinical trial on Fibronol did not even include an overnight sleep study, nor did they draw blood to assess growth hormone levels. This diagram is simply based on wishful thinking. The manufacturer (as well as the promoters of this product) are counting on people with fibromyalgia and drained of energy (and understandably very desperate for help) to be lured in by the promises portrayed in the diagram to improve the sale of their products. By the way, the two products will set you back $150 per month.
|
