Taking Vitamins Lowers Chronic
Disease Risk.
BOSTON- In a research
review published in the June 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) (287, 23:3116-26, 2002), researchers reported finding a
link between inadequate intakes of certain vitamins and the increased risk for
chronic conditions such as coronary heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis.
The researchers--Kathleen
Fairfield, M.D., DrPH, and Robert Fletcher, M.D., both from Harvard--searched
MEDLINE (a database of 11 million indexed journal citations) for
English-language articles published between 1966 and 2002 that pertained to
vitamins and chronic disease. Narrowing the search down to those nutrients that
were considered "clinically important," the researchers honed in on data
surrounding nine vitamins and chronic disease.
Vitamins B9 (folic acid) and B12 (cobalamin)
were found to be necessary for homocysteine metabolism and reducing the risk of
coronary heart disease. Vitamin E decreased the risk of prostate cancer, and
vitamin D taken with calcium decreased the occurrence of bone fractures.
However, it was found that taking excessive amounts of fat-soluble vitamins such
as vitamin A may lead to more problems than were solved.
They found that the elderly,
vegans, alcohol-dependent individuals and those persons suffering from vitamin
malabsorption were at especially high risk for inadequate vitamin intake.
In a letter
accompanying the research review, Fairfield and Fletcher report that suboptimal
intake of vitamins should be seen as a risk factor for chronic diseases,
especially in the elderly. In addition, most people do not consume an optimal
amount of all vitamins through diet alone. "Pending strong evidence of
effectiveness from randomized trials, it appears prudent for all adults to take
vitamin supplements," wrote the authors. "Physicians should make specific
efforts to learn about their patients' use of vitamins to ensure that they are
taking vitamins they should." |
