Posted on 04/15/2008 8:34:19 PM PDT by blam
Vitamin pills 'increase risk of early death'
By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 16/04/2008
Popular vitamin supplements taken by millions of people in the hope of improving their health may do no good and could increase the risk of a premature death, researchers report today.
They warn healthy people who take antioxidant supplements, including vitamins A and E, to try to keep diseases such as cancer at bay that they are interfering with their natural body defences and may be increasing their risk of an early death by up to 16 per cent.
Antioxidants, including vitamins A, E, and C are said to mop up free radicals, which cause disease
Researchers at Copenhagen University carried out a review of 67 studies on 230,000 healthy people and found "no convincing evidence" that any of the antioxidants helped to prolong life expectancy. But some "increased mortality".
About 12 million Britons supplement their diets with vitamins and the industry is worth £330 million. But little research has been done on the long-term health implications.
The Department of Health said yesterday that people should try to get the vitamins they need by eating a balanced diet and advised care in taking large doses of supplements.
A spokesman said: "There is a need to exercise caution in the use of high doses of purified supplements of vitamins, including antioxidant vitamins, and minerals. Their impact on long-term health may not have been fully established and they cannot be assumed to be without risk.
"Anyone concerned about their diet should speak to their doctor or dietitian."
Antioxidants, including vitamins A, E, C and beta-carotene and selenium, are said to mop up compounds, called free radicals, which cause disease. It is this action that researchers believe may cause problems with the defence system.
The Danish research, released by the influential Cochrane Library, applied only to synthetic supplements and not to vitamins that occur naturally in vegetables and fruit.
It found that vitamin A supplements increased the risk of death in healthy people by 16 per cent. Taking beta-carotene was linked to a 7 per cent increased risk, while regular users of vitamin E supplements increased the risk of an early death by four per cent.
Although the review found no significant detrimental effect caused by vitamin C, it found no evidence that it helped ward off disease. Millions take it in the hope of avoiding a common cold.
Goran Bjelakovic, who led the review, said: "We could find no evidence to support taking antioxidant supplements to reduce the risk of dying earlier in healthy people or patients with various diseases.
"If anything, people in trial groups given the antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E showed increased rates of mortality."
But Patrick Holford, a nutritionist who has formulated supplements for the company Biocare, said: "Antioxidants are not meant to be magic bullets and should not be expected to undo a lifetime of unhealthy habits.
"When used properly, in combination with a healthy diet full of fruit and vegetables, getting plenty of exercise and not smoking, antioxidant supplements can play an important role in maintaining and promoting overall health."
A spokesman for the Health Supplements Information Service said: "People should get all the vitamins and minerals they need from their diet, but for the millions who are not able to do that, vitamins can be a useful supplement and they should not stop taking them."
However, Catherine Collins, of the British Dietetic Association, said: "This study is deeply worrying and shows that there should be more regulation for vitamins and minerals.
"The public can buy vitamins as easily as sweets. They should be treated in the same way as paracetamol with maximum limits on the dosage."
Thank you SOOOOOOO much.
And they will become believers in vitamins, too, once they are regulated.
Coupla high end steak joints in Chicago that WON’T serve you a steak unless it has mold on it...
“She was very happy — energetic, entertaining. She’d dance, act, whatever she could do. She’s not going to be able to do it because of the stupidity of a gun that we can not get off our streets,” the victim’s cousin, Tonya Harris, said.
Note to Tonya: Guns do not kill people. People with guns kills people.
Toss in some raw one-minute oats, a small banana, four ice cubes, and a tablespoon of peanut butter, and you’ve got all you need!
This is bullsh1t that people have to be protected from themselves and the vitamins they buy.
It is true that some vitamins, taken in extremely high doses, may cause diarrhea. You can take too much minerals and potentially cause problems. However, it is f@cking ridiculous to equate vitamins with prescription drugs that have tremendously long side effect lists, that don’t work for up to over half the people that take them, and kill hundreds of thousands of people a year because they only treat symptoms rather than effect a cure.
This is all about getting Codex passed. They want to control what vitamins you can take because people can make themselves healthier without having to be forced to use Big Brother health care and take expensive, more dangerous prescription drugs.
The bottom line is that you are in control of your own health. If you eat a lot of veggies and fruits and avoid bad foods and drinks, you’re probably pretty good. But most people eat a less than nutritious diet that supplements are useful for. This kind of move limits your ability to determine what your health needs are, based on your own research. After all, you may want to try something that your doctor may not sign off on. You ought to be able to have the ability to do so. If you want to buy a bottle of 1000mg vitamin C pills, you shouldn’t need a doctor to sign off on it.
This is utter and complete bullsh1t. Forcing people who take care of themselves to use the healthcare system and be denied supplements they want to use. Yes, they could deny you from getting certain dosages of something, or totally deny you the ability to get something. This is big brother healthcare.
They are trying to paint vitamins, which can actually reverse conditions, as deadly, as the excuse for the government to control them. Scurvy is cured by vitamin C. The disease pellagra is cured by Niacin. Night blindness is caused either by a vitamin a or zinc deficiency.
None of the major drug companies do anything with vitamins because they are not patentable like a new prescription drug is. Further vitamins and herbs are not covered under almost anyone’s insurance plans because they are not “drugs”, so there is no financial incentive for doctors to prescribe them.
Yuk. I want my meat fresh, and grilled medium well.
Wonder why they left out vitamin D?
Hehe. That was the only G-rated pic I could find... The rest were... not G-rated. *cough*
Actually, I do occasionally toss in those things! (Not all at once — I’ll swap out the peanut butter for the fruit juice and add more milk.)
Isn’t vitamin D created by exposure to sunlight?
Oops, I mean swap IN the peanut butter and add more milk...
I respect your beliefs, but I don’t need anyone telling me I’m “diminishing” God or “denying his authority” and then spamming a bunch of Scripture at me, just because my beliefs differ somewhat (or perhaps even a lot) from yours.
I am secure in my faith, thank you very much.
Have a good night.
Of course they will.
She is Beautiful
Bet you thought I was kidding! Wanna hear how I cured my psoriasis of the finger nails?
Your welcome. Who would of thought?
I take liquid vitamin and mineral supplement.
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