Link Between Mega Multivitamins And Cancer

Higher Doses Linked To Elevated Risk Of Death From Prostate Cancer

(WebMD)  Men who take too many multivitamins may be increasing their
risk of dying from prostate cancer, according to new research from the National Cancer Institute.

Taking a multivitamin more than seven times a week was associated with a 30 percent increased risk of advanced prostate cancer and a doubling of the risk of death from the disease in the study.

Regular multivitamin use (one to six times a week) did not appear to increase cancer risk, and excessive vitamin use was not associated with an
increased risk of early, or localized, prostate cancer.

But there was also no evidence to suggest that taking multivitamins at any
dosage helped prevent prostate cancer.

NCI researcher Michael F. Leitzmann, M.D., Ph.D., tells WebMD that more research
is needed to confirm the association and understand how vitamin and other
dietary supplements affect cancer risk.

"Based on our findings, we would recommend that men adhere to recommendations for dietary supplements and consult with their physician before taking supplements in excessive doses," he says.

More Questions About Safety


The new research is one of several recent studies suggesting a potential
downside to vitamin supplementation in people who are generally well-nourished.

An analysis of 47 studies assessing antioxidant supplementation, published
earlier this year, found a slight increase in deaths among people who took
beta-carotene, vitamin E, or vitamin A supplements.

Christian Gluud, M.D., who co-authored the analysis, tells WebMD that there is little evidence of a benefit for antioxidant supplementation and mounting
evidence of potential harm.

"The idea that you can prevent disease by taking an antioxidant supplement
is very attractive," he says. "People want to believe it, and there is a great deal of marketing devoted to making them believe it."

In the latest study, Leitzmann, co-author Karla Lawson, Ph.D., and NCI
colleagues followed slightly more than 295,000 men enrolled in a diet and
health study for five years.

During this time, 8,765 men in the study were diagnosed with localized
prostate cancer (cancer that hasn't spread beyond the prostate) and 1,476 with advanced prostate cancer (cancer that has spread beyond the prostate).

No link was seen between multivitamin use and localized prostate cancer.

The increase in advanced and fatal cancers was seen in men who took
multivitamins more than seven times a week. The link was strongest among men
with a family history of prostate cancer and men who also took selenium,
beta-carotene, or zinc supplements.

Because the researchers had information on the use of some individual
supplements but not others, they were not able to identify individual vitamins or doses associated with increased risk.

The study appears in the May 16 issue of the Journal of the National
Cancer Institute.

Good Free Radicals?

In an editorial accompanying the study, Gluud and colleague Goran
Bjelakovic, both of Copenhagen University Hospital, offer an intriguing
hypothesis on the role of free radicals and antioxidant supplements in the
promotion and prevention of disease.

The thinking has been that antioxidant vitamins protect against diseases
like cancer and heart disease by reducing the free radicals that are thought to promote these conditions through oxidative stress.

But Gluud and Bjelakovic suggest that free radicals may do some good by
targeting and killing harmful cells, such as those that cause cancers to
grow.

"Antioxidant supplements [which decrease free radicals] may actually cause
some harm," they write. "Our diets typically contain safe levels of vitamins, but high-level antioxidant supplements could potentially upset an important physiologic balance."

Though just a theory at this point, Gluud tells WebMD that it is one that
deserves further study.

[gaye5]

Funny this... They dont tell us that mega doses of their drugs do the same or that mega doses of carrots etc are just as bad..

[newsthought1]

Here is a rebuttal study, one of many. Note that it is important to take the GAMMA tocopherol form of vitamin E with the alpha form, not just the alpha form alone:

Helzlsouer, K.J., Huang, H.Y., Alberg, A.J. et al. Association between alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, selenium, and subsequent prostate cancer. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 2000; 92: 2018%u201323

Vitamin E Isomers Alpha- and Gamma-Tocopherol plus Selenium Combine to Reduce PC Risk
A large-scale study of almost 11,000 men in Maryland showed that the protective effects of high selenium levels, and similarly that of the alpha-tocopherol isomer of vitamin E, were only observed when the concentrations of the gamma tocopherol isomer of vitamin E were also high. In this study, the risk of PC declined with increasing concentrations of alpha-tocopherol, with the highest concentration associated with a 68% PC risk reduction. For gamma-tocopherol, men with levels in the highest fifth of the distribution had a fivefold greater reduction in the risk of developing PC than men in the lowest fifth (p = .002). The observed interaction between alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, and selenium suggested that combined alpha- and gamma-tocopherol supplements, used in conjunction with selenium, should be considered in future PC prevention trials.

From
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-138.shtml

If you know someone with prostate cancer, you might want to check out the above link.

[newsthought1]

Testimonials aren't worth much, but here's mine: I have been mega-dosing for 30 years. My Dad had prostate cancer. My PSA is normal and my prostate, as of last month, is fine. I have no cancer. So far so good. I admit that megadosing is an experiment, but there is sound science to support antioxidants. I would advise anyone, especially megadosers, to have regular checkups and bloodwork for early detection of any changes in health. Also, scoring good numbers on my bloodwork makes me feel like I'm on the right track.

[megala--2008]

A few unanswered questions:

1. Who financed the Study?
2. What kind of Vitamins were used?
a. Synthetic? (probably)
b. Natural and Organic (nahhh!)

Follow the $, disclose all info and then report the findings.

[acumother]

I have been a licensed acupuncturist for many years, and I see a great many patients who are dealing with a wide array of health issues, and who are probably more likely to use vitamin supplementation than the general public. In my experience, people don't generally take mega-vitamin supplementation consistently unless they are trying to actively treat a serious existing disease or have a first-degree relative who has suffered with a serious disease, such as cancer.

It is likely that the men taking the high doses of vitamins were the men at the highest risk for prostate cancer anyway.

It is interesting to note that there was no association between localized (early) cancer and mulitvitamin use, but there was an association between advanced cancer and multivitamin use. This suggests that perhaps the men began using the supplements in an effort to ward off the disease when they were already symptomatic, but before they were diagnosed.

Future studies would do well to include questions about when and why supplementation was initiated or increased in their research designs.

[drinuk]

Right on the button ketone66. I wonder how many of the eminent PHD's above are supporters of Big Pharma. I note they do not draw anyones attention to vitamin B-17, this one scares the pants off Big Pharma and it's incestuous friends.

Check out www4,dr-rath-foundation.org for the REAL truth about vitamins.

[goldesprit]

This article is proof that there is a need for articles to sell commercial space.

The next time you have a sunburn--you might want to take around 2000 units (or a little more)of (natural) vitamin E. You can use it topically on the skin burn as well (as long as you can tolerate vitamin e).

It will turn into a tan much much faster--noticeably faster. Prove it to yourself!

I suppose lots of untreated radiation is better for you...than a vitamin?

I am old enough to remember cigarette commercials...

"Commercial" is the key word.

[ketone66]

Amazing the establishment always finds what can't be patented dangerous and what can be patented safe. Better they should research aspartame/Nutrasweet, sucralose/Splenda, ... oh, but there's big money behind those. Meanwhile "they" announced a few weeks ago that strawberry margaritas were healthy due to the increased level of antioxidants! Men, protect your prostate, take zinc and pumpkinseed oil and ignore any agency with .gov in their web address.

[zykracosmos]

translation... save you're money and spend it on something fun, because you're still going to die, and none of this is going to stall it, and maybe speed things up!