ShareThis
by Dr. Philip S. Chua.
May 2, 2011
The CBS health news telecast last week regarding the possible link between multivitamins and cancer has been confusing to many, taken out of context by some and exaggerated by others, creating doubt and fear among those who take them.
What WebMD reported was the preliminary data of a new research from the National Cancer Institute that basically stated “men who take many multivitamins may be increasing their risk of dying from prostate cancer.”
What the study showed was taking vitamins “more than 7 days a week was linked to a 30% increased risk among those with advanced prostate cancer and a doubling of the risk of death from the disease.”
Taking multivitamins, at the “regular recommended dose, one to six times a week, did not increase the cancer risk, and excessive vitamin use was not associated with an increased risk among patients with early, or localized, prostate cancer.”
The subjects referred to in this study were patients who already had prostate cancer to begin with, in varying stages of the disease, and the researchers were investigating what effects multivitamins had on their cancer. There were 8,765 men with localized prostate cancer and 1,476 with advanced prostate cancer, diagnosed during this 5-year study, which included a total of 295,000 men enrolled in a diet and health research.
“More research is needed to confirm the association and understand how vitamin and other dietary supplements affect cancer risk,” concluded NCI researcher Michael F. Leitzmann, M.D., Ph.D.
Following our clarification of the medical subtleties in that CBS news, we are hoping that those taking multivitamins and minerals regularly can have the peace of mind, knowing that the study did not pertain to the general public.
Antioxidants: Harmful?
In a separate clinical investigation published last year, 47 independent studies assessing antioxidant supplementation “found a slight increase in deaths among people who took beta carotene, vitamin E, or vitamin A supplements.”
“There is little evidence of a benefit for antioxidant supplementation and mounting evidence of potential harm,” according to Christian Gluud, M.D., who co-authored the analysis.
The unfounded idea that we can prevent diseases by simply taking supplements, without exerting any effort, is mostly the result of brilliantly crafted infomercials and marketing gimmicks that the $6-billion-a-year industry has flooded all the media with.
The illusion of a modern medical fountain of youth and health has become almost too real to resist in our quest for a convenient and instant potion, lotion, or pill to make us look and/or feel good without sweat.
But reality is something else. To attain good health, we must work at it and for it. Medical science is not enough. Since the start of civilization, it has been recognized that a healthy mind and body comes from good nutrition, physically active body, adequate rest, and healthy habits. While this awareness was expressed in its simplistic and archaic term then, it’s principle, wisdom, and basis in science had faithfully served countless generations and have remained pertinent even today.
Good Free Radicals?
The same investigator, Dr. Gluud, and colleague Goran Bjelakovic, who are both with Copenhagen University Hospital, wrote a fascinating editorial about their hypothesis that free radicals may not be all that bad after all.
The current popular view is that antioxidant vitamins protect people against diseases, like heart disease and cancer, “by reducing the free radicals that are thought to promote these conditions through oxidative stress.”
Gluud and Bjelakovic theorize that “free radicals may do some good by targeting and killing harmful cells, such as those that cause cancer to grow.”
“Antioxidant supplements (which decrease free radicals) may actually cause some harm,” says the editorial. “Our diets typically contain safe levels of vitamins, but high-level antioxidant supplements could potentially upset an important physiologic balance.”
If this theory is, in fact, found to be valid and true in the future, it will radically revolutionize the medical thinking on vitamins and antioxidant supplements.
More extensive studies are, of course, required to prove or disprove this most interesting hypothesis.
Back to Basic
While scientific studies around the world continue to unravel medical mysteries to help humankind prevent or cure diseases, one caveat remains constant and clear: Unless we, as individuals, learn to love our body enough to actively protect it by living a healthy lifestyle, no matter how much sacrifice it entails, no amount of advances in medical science and technology can save us from ailments and diseases, preventable morbidities and premature death, especially those illnesses resulting from our self-abuse. #
Visit us on Facebook Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com