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News & Views
Don't Be Fooled By The Latest Anti-Supplement Campaign
Date: 14/10/11
Keywords: anti-vitamin campaign, Natural remedies, Nutrition, supplements, Alternative medicine, Vitamins
A recent study, published in the prestigious Archives of Internal Medicine, reported that women over the age of 55 who take vitamin or mineral supplements may die sooner than their supplement- free counterparts.
The Finnish researchers used data from three self-reporting questionnaire surveys to determine whether or not the use of supplements would reduce the risk of death.
The media has been full of it this week... Supplements will kill you! That's the message from several new research papers – and their publication coincides with campaigns to restrict supplement sales in the US.
The findings of a Finnish study claim that vitamins kill older women. This, of course, is a load of old codswallop and is completely at odds with thousands of earlier research papers that had demonstrated the very reverse.
Supplements a risk to older women?
The study, published in the prestigious Archives of Internal Medicine (however, I'm starting to question their credibility after allowing this study to slip through), reported that women over the age of 55 who take vitamin or mineral supplements may die sooner than their supplement- free counterparts.
The Finnish researchers used data from three self-reporting questionnaire surveys to determine whether or not the use of supplements would reduce the risk of death.
Self-reporting questionnaires!? Right... just how accurate can they be for starters?
In the first study, starting in 1986 and running over a period of 22 years through to 2008, 38,772 women participated. The second study was conducted in 1997 and the third in 2004. The average age of the women participating was 62. In all three studies the use of supplements was queried. However, food intake was not queried in the 1997 survey...
In fact, digging a bit deeper it's clear that the researchers did not account for quite a few factors, before doctoring their conclusions, including:
Looking at the above, it's clear that the researchers designed their study in such a way that it would only provide the answer they were looking for and nothing else. Once they managed to support their theory, they had little interest to look at the study's profound inadequacies.
Consequently, the researchers published results that put vitamins like B6 and folic acid, as well as the minerals iron and copper, in the firing line!
The truth is that vitamin and mineral supplements can help those with less healthy, or irregular diets, to meet recommended intakes of nutrients, and help ensure that they maintain a good level of well-being.
Commenting on the findings of the study, Dr Glenys Jones, from the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Research unit in Cambridge, said: 'This observational study is interesting, but it does not show supplement use causes women to die earlier.'
Dr Carrie Ruxton, from the Health Supplements Information Service, said that the findings should be treated with extreme caution given the poor methodology and lack of reliable information about the health of participants, or the type of diets consumed. Dr Ruxton added that there is no credible biological reason why normal supplement use should impact on mortality, and that it is likely that these findings are representative of age and ill-health rather than supplement use.
Sources:
"Safety of Anacetrapib in Patients with or at High Risk for Coronary Heart Disease" New England Journal of Medicine, Published online ahead of print, 11/17/10, nejm.org
"Next big thing? Big cholesterol drop with new drug" Marilynn Marchione, Associated Press, 11/17/10, ap.org
"The Claim: Drink Plenty of Fluids to Beat a Cold" Anahad O'Connor, New York Times, 1/10/11, nytimes.com
Back to topThe findings of a Finnish study claim that vitamins kill older women. This, of course, is a load of old codswallop and is completely at odds with thousands of earlier research papers that had demonstrated the very reverse.
Supplements a risk to older women?
The study, published in the prestigious Archives of Internal Medicine (however, I'm starting to question their credibility after allowing this study to slip through), reported that women over the age of 55 who take vitamin or mineral supplements may die sooner than their supplement- free counterparts.
The Finnish researchers used data from three self-reporting questionnaire surveys to determine whether or not the use of supplements would reduce the risk of death.
Self-reporting questionnaires!? Right... just how accurate can they be for starters?
In the first study, starting in 1986 and running over a period of 22 years through to 2008, 38,772 women participated. The second study was conducted in 1997 and the third in 2004. The average age of the women participating was 62. In all three studies the use of supplements was queried. However, food intake was not queried in the 1997 survey...
In fact, digging a bit deeper it's clear that the researchers did not account for quite a few factors, before doctoring their conclusions, including:
- Use of pharmaceutical drugs and associated side effects and drug interactions — the single factor most likely to be associated with risk of death.
- Nutrient status, easily provided by blood and urine tests.
- For what period of time did participants take supplements prior to the initial baseline, in 1986?
- How were the supplements taken... in capsule form, liquid or tablets?
- What other form of supplements were taken? Essential fatty acids, botanicals and/or amino acids?
- Did the use of supplements increase after a diagnosis or self-perception of ill health?
- Were sub-clinical signs of chronic disease, such as cancer or heart disease, already present in some participants at the start of the study?
Looking at the above, it's clear that the researchers designed their study in such a way that it would only provide the answer they were looking for and nothing else. Once they managed to support their theory, they had little interest to look at the study's profound inadequacies.
Consequently, the researchers published results that put vitamins like B6 and folic acid, as well as the minerals iron and copper, in the firing line!
The truth is that vitamin and mineral supplements can help those with less healthy, or irregular diets, to meet recommended intakes of nutrients, and help ensure that they maintain a good level of well-being.
Commenting on the findings of the study, Dr Glenys Jones, from the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Research unit in Cambridge, said: 'This observational study is interesting, but it does not show supplement use causes women to die earlier.'
Dr Carrie Ruxton, from the Health Supplements Information Service, said that the findings should be treated with extreme caution given the poor methodology and lack of reliable information about the health of participants, or the type of diets consumed. Dr Ruxton added that there is no credible biological reason why normal supplement use should impact on mortality, and that it is likely that these findings are representative of age and ill-health rather than supplement use.
Sources:
"Safety of Anacetrapib in Patients with or at High Risk for Coronary Heart Disease" New England Journal of Medicine, Published online ahead of print, 11/17/10, nejm.org
"Next big thing? Big cholesterol drop with new drug" Marilynn Marchione, Associated Press, 11/17/10, ap.org
"The Claim: Drink Plenty of Fluids to Beat a Cold" Anahad O'Connor, New York Times, 1/10/11, nytimes.com
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