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Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements for Seniors
Vitamin E May Increase Lung Cancer Risk; Other
Vitamins Fail to Lower Risk Like Fruit
Supplement use comes from the desire to mimic the
benefits of a healthy diet with convenient pill
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Feb.29, 2008 - Vitamin supplements do not protect
against lung cancer, according to a study of more than 77,000 vitamin
users. In fact, some supplements may even increase the risk of
developing it. On the other hand, eating fruit daily may reduce risk for
lung cancer, as well as reduced risk of several other cancers and
cardiovascular disease.
“Our study of supplemental multivitamins, vitamin
C, vitamin E and folate did not show any evidence for a decreased risk
of lung cancer,” wrote the study’s author, E G. Slatore, M.D., of the
University of Washington, in Seattle.
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Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements |
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“Indeed, increasing intake of supplemental vitamin
E was associated with a slightly increased risk of lung cancer.”
The findings were published in the first issue for
March of the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory
and Critical Care Medicine.
Dr. Slatore and colleagues selected a prospective
cohort of 77,126 men and women between 50 and 76 years of age in the
Washington state VITAL (VITamins And Lifestyle) study, and determined
their rate of developing lung cancer over four years with respect to
their current and past vitamin usage, smoking, and other demographic and
medical characteristics.
Of the original cohort, 521 developed lung cancer,
the expected rate for a low-risk cohort such as VITAL. But among those
who developed lung cancer, in addition to the unsurprising associations
with smoking history, family history, and age, there was a slight but
significant association between use of supplemental vitamin E and lung
cancer.
“In contrast to the often assumed benefits or at
least lack of harm, supplemental vitamin E was associated with a small
increased risk of lung cancer,” said Dr. Slatore.
When modeled continuously, the increased risk was
equivalent to a seven percent rise for every 100 mg/day.
“This risk translates into a 28 percent increased
risk of lung cancer at a dose of 400 mg/day for ten years,” wrote Dr.
Slatore. The increased risk was most prominent in current smokers.
The idea that vitamin supplements are healthy, or
at the very least, do no harm, comes from the desire of many people to
mimic the benefits of a healthy diet with a convenient pill says Tim
Byers, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in
an editorial in the same issue of the journal.
However, he points out, “fruits contain not only
vitamins but also many hundreds of other phytochemical compounds whose
functions are not well understood.”
The World Cancer Research Fund and the American
Cancer Society recommend two servings of fruit each day, based on a
study that previously found a 20 percent increase in cancer risk among
people who ate the least amount of fruit.
This recommendation “would likely lead to a reduced
risk for lung cancer, as well as reduced risk of several other cancers
and cardiovascular disease,” writes Dr. Byers.
“However, any benefit to the population of smokers
from increasing fruit intake to reduce cancer risk by 20 percent would
be more than offset if even a small proportion of smokers decided to
continue tobacco use in favor of such a diet change.”
These findings have broad public health
implications, given the large population of current and former smokers
and the widespread use of vitamin supplements.
“Future studies may focus on other components of
fruits and vegetables that may explain the decreased risk [of cancer]
that has been associated with fruits and vegetables,” writes Dr. Slatore.
“Meanwhile,” he says, “our results should prompt
clinicians to counsel patients that these supplements are unlikely to
reduce the risk of lung cancer and may be detrimental.”
>>
American Thoracic Society
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