Vitamin supplements do not cut risk of gastrointestinal cancer
BMJ 2004; 329 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.329.7470.817 (Published 07 October 2004) Cite this as: BMJ 2004;329:817
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I am not a Doctor . I used to work in Medical research and
unfortunately in life have seen friends etc die of cancer.
I just wanted to say I think the use of vitamins is being
scare mongered....just in case it works, as the medical profession would
lose money if people stared to cure themselves taking vitamins.
To me it makes common sense as most of us these days eat badly . If
we ate more fruit and veg may be we wouldn't get sick in the first
place....fruit and veg contain vitamins and minerals don't they
?...funnily enough.
As a lay person I was upset and quite taken aback by the article !
It could frighten people in to totally giving up !
Rita Osborne
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
It is difficult to understand why The Lancet's new style front cover
highlighted the quote, "The prospect that vitamin pills may not only do no
good but also kill their consumers is a scary speculationh given the vast
qualtities that are used in certain communities".
In contrast, in Talking Points The Lancet editor says that oxidative
stress may cause cancer. Although the meta-analysis by Goran Bjelakovic
and colleagues found no overall evidence of the expected prevention of
gastrointestinal cancers with antioxidant supplements, in the Comment
paper David Forman and Douglas Altman stated that this meta-analysis does
not offer convincing proof that supplements are a hazard.
Rather than being confused by conflicting results from flawed
epidemiological studies, why are valid and highly accurate tests not
genrally used to measure essential nutrient deficiencies? The commonest
deficiencies are of zinc and magnesium which cause impaired function of
hundreds of enzymes and basic antioxidant mechanisms. Nutritional
deficiencies are extremely common and potentially life threatening.
Repletion of deficiencies can be confirmed by measurements of cellular
concentrations and often also by functional tests.
The denigration of Nutritional Medicine because of the diverse
results of limited epidemiological studies is very tedious.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
The Oesophageal Cancer belt stretches from the Caspian Sea to the
north of China. It also includes Afghanistan and North West of Pakistan
where we see patients. Oesophageal Cancer in Afghan population (males and
females) ranked fourth in our study. Chinese have also done some studies
themselves as well as with National Cancer Institute USA (NCI)
collaboration, where supplements of vitamins were given and we were told
that the incidence of Oesophageal Cancer decreased. It will be interesting
to know whether the authors of the article on “Vitamin supplements do not
cut risk of gastrointestinal cancer” took the Chinese and the NCI studies
into consideration before arriving at the conclusion.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Methinks that this paper may fulfil my requirements for not having
enough value to pay for the paper it was printed on.
It also reminds me of a widely publicized study on vitamins, also out
of England, that consisted of handing out a few vitamin pills of very
minimal potency and then follow the 'candidates' for a rather short time
to see what diseases would pop up.
No significant differences were found and thus the verdict came in as
expected: Vitamin supplements are of no value.
I have a very dear cousin who lives on the Continent. We call him our
"Drinking Cousin".
He was told by his doctor many years ago that a small amount of alcohol
would see him into old age and prevent many afflictions but heavy drinking
would do the opposite.
My Drinking Cousin, who imbibes on average more than 150 g of ethanol
on a normal day, more on special occasions, appears to be going strong.
His doctor, who followed his own advice and only sipped
is long dead.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Facts are stranger than fictions.
Dear Sir,
About the article by Susan Mayor, I would like to point out the
predictions and outcome of lung cancer prevention study published in mid
1980s and 90s. Though the levels of serum beta-carotene were lower in
patients who developed lung cancer (1) when this vitamin was supplemented
to these patients what was noted was a surprising increase in the event of
lung cancer in these patients. (2) The conclusion that can be drawn from
this is that facts are stranger than fictions and it is always better to
count the chickens after the eggs have hatched.
References:
1. Menkes MS, Comstock GW, Vuilleumier JP, Helsing KJ, Rider AA,
Brookmeyer R. Serum beta-carotene, vitamins A and E, selenium, and the
risk of lung cancer. N Engl J Med 1986;315:1250-1254
2. Beta Carotene Cancer Prevention Study Group The Alpha-Tocopherol.
The Effect of Vitamin E and Beta Carotene on the Incidence of Lung Cancer
and Other Cancers in Male Smokers. N Engl J Med 1994;330:1029-1035
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests