Thrainn Thorvaldsson, managing director of SagaMedica in Iceland, recently toured West Pasco to promote the company's herbal products. The firm recently opened a branch office in Port Richey.
More than a thousand years ago during their long voyages, the Vikings came across a plant in Iceland that seemed to boost their endurance.
Today, many people are discovering a natural dietary supplement derived from Angelica archangelica, an herb the Vikings discovered. The Icelandic company SagaMedica is establishing a branch office in Port Richey to market its line of various products, which officials claim can bolster immunity, boost memory, promote vitality or soothe throats with herbal lozenges.
Thrainn Thorvaldsson, managing director of the parent company in Iceland, recently toured West Pasco to meet with doctors here. SagaMedica USA is led by John Skelton, director, and Dr. Cynthia Rathbone, consultant pharmacist and director.
"The Vikings used to sell this all over Europe," Skelton remarked about the Angelica plant upon which SagaMedica products are based. Angelica became like an unofficial currency among trading partners in the days of Leif Ericcson.The health care debate is shifting the focus more toward preventive care, so local doctors are open to alternatives, Skelton pointed out.
"A lot of them are changing their thinking," Thorvaldsson said about doctors with a renewed interest in preventing problems, rather than treating them.
Despite an often harsh climate, Icelanders tend to have some of the longest life spans in the world, Skelton noted.
Skelton himself has tried SagaPro, which seem to help him as much or more than a prescription drug. A member of Rotary Club of New Port Richey, Skelton introduced SagaPro to several fellow Rotary members who raved about the results.
The company is based on 16 years of scientific research headed by Dr. Sigmundur Gudbjarnason, professor emeritus of biochemistry and organic chemistry at the University of Iceland.
Gudbjarnason was dismissed as a "fish monger" in the 1970s when he predicted many people would clamor for omega-3 compounds found in fish, Skelton noted. Gudbjarnason considers himself vindicated, though, as sales of fish oil and omega-3 products skyrocketed.
Thriving in the Arctic and Iceland's volcanic rocks, the whole Angelica plant is used - stems, leaves, seeds and roots - with various beneficial health effects.
"They won't make claims they can't substantiate," Skelton said about SagaMedica researchers and executives.
SagaPro, the first product extensively promoted here, can help with various health problems, Thorvaldsson said, but seems especially useful for people who must go to the bathroom frequently. An overactive bladder can inflict both men and women. The condition becomes more pronounced as people get older. SagaPro contains flavonoids, plant-derived antioxidant compounds that appear to counteract some of these effects. Positive effects on asthma sufferers have been observed.
Dr. Lawrence D. Hochman with Florida Cancer Institute-New Hope wrote a letter in May to Skelton to testify about benefits of SagaPro for several dozen patients enduring radiation therapy for prostate cancer. SagaPro appears to help urinary flow of the patients, Hochman wrote.
Perhaps about 70 percent of SagaPro sales are snatched up by sleep-deprived wives for their husbands who had been suffering from frequent urination, Thorvaldsson observed. Men tend to be reluctant to admit they have a problem, Skelton said with a chuckle.
More information about the SagaMedica USA herbal products is available on the company's Web site.
Source:tbo.com/
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