Vitamin Supplements Associated With Increased Risk for Death

[bohm2]

October 10, 2011 — The current study sought to evaluate the link between supplement use and total mortality rate, using data from the Iowa Women's Health Study...Vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, and zinc were associated with about a 3% to 6% increased risk for death, whereas copper was associated with an 18.0% increased risk for total mortality when compared with corresponding nonuse.

"In contrast, we found that several commonly used dietary vitamin and mineral supplements, including multivitamins, vitamins B6, and folic acid, as well as minerals iron, magnesium, zinc, and copper, were associated with a higher risk of total mortality."

"Although we cannot rule out benefits of supplements, such as improved quality of life, our study raises a concern regarding their long-term safety," the authors add.

"We cannot recommend the use of vitamin and mineral supplements as a preventive measure, at least not in a well-nourished population,"

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/751263

Full pdf:

http://junksciencecom.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/aim-multivitamin-older-women-mortality.pdf

[bohm2]

This part is confusing from the comments section::

The use of calcium and vitamin D was associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality when compared to nonuse before and after adjustment for multiplicity. The Iowa Women’s Health Study is observational; therefore, confounding by indication and by other such factors cannot be excluded. However, the study is large, well designed, and well conducted.

The findings by Mursu and colleagues that calcium and vitamin D were associated with better survival also are interesting. Their results regarding calcium seem to contrast with those of a recent meta-analysis of randomized trials that observed that calcium supplementation is associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction and those of an observational study that reported a 24% increase in coronary heart disease in Finnish postmenopausal women using calcium supplements. High intake of calcium also has been associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. Is taking only calcium supplements perhaps not a good idea?

http://junksciencecom.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/aim-multivitamin-older-women-mortality.pdf

[bohm2]

Another review suggesting the same:


Background: Dietary supplements are regularly used by at least half of the American population, yet the health benefits of these agents are unclear. Objective: A systematic review to determine the benefits and risks of dietary supplements in Westernized societies.

Data Sources:MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials and citation review of relevant articles.

Study Selection: Randomized, placebocontrolled clinical trials in non-pregnant Westernized adults that evaluated clinical outcomes of nutritional supplements.

Data Extraction:Data were abstracted on study design, study size, study setting, patient population, dietary intervention and clinical outcomes. The outcome of each study was classified as non-beneficial, beneficial or harmful according to whether the end-point(s) of interest reached statistical significance.

Data Synthesis: Sixty-three studies met the criteria for our systematic review. No benefit was recorded in 45 studies, with 10 of these showing a trend towards harm and with two showing a trend towards benefit. Four studies reported harm with increased cancer deaths (n=2) and increased fractures (n=2). Two studies reported both a harmful as well as a beneficial outcome. A beneficial outcome was reported in 12 studies; 6 which studied vitamin D and three which investigated omega-3 fatty acids. While a benefit was reported in one study each which investigated Vitamin E, folic acid and Ginkgo biloba this benefit was not confirmed by larger and more adequately powered studies.

Conclusions: With the possible exceptions of Vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids there is no data to support the widespread use of dietary supplements in Westernized populations; indeed, many of these supplements may be harmful

Do Dietary Supplements Have Beneficial Health Effects in Industrialized Nations: What Is the Evidence?
http://pen.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/01/24/0148607111416485.abstract?rss=1

[bohm2]

It seems that another study came out yesterday questioning the use of calcium supplements by many people:

Calcium Supplements Linked to Significantly Increased Heart Attack Risk, Study Suggests
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120523200752.htm

Full study:
Conclusions: Calcium supplements with or without vitamin D modestly increase the risk of cardiovascular events, especially myocardial infarction, a finding obscured in the WHI CaD Study by the widespread use of personal calcium supplements. A reassessment of the role of calcium supplements in osteoporosis management is warranted.
http://www.bmj.com/highwire/filestream/358000/field_highwire_article_pdf/0.pdf

[Greg Bernhardt]

Gosh nutrition science makes my head spin! The only safe method is to eat a healthy balanced diet. End of story.

[Evo]

Gosh nutrition science makes my head spin! The only safe method is to eat a healthy balanced diet. End of story.Do we even really know what that is anymore? What foods are good for you? They go back and forth, eat this, wait, don't eat that! And they have changed nutritional requirements before. :surprised

[micromass]

Do we even really know what that is anymore? What foods are good for you? They go back and forth, eat this, wait, don't eat that! And they have changed nutritional requirements before. :surprised

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[ViewsofMars]

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(Last updated 01/20/2012):

Fortify Your Knowledge About Vitamins (Consumer Update)
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ProtectYourself/HealthFraud/ucm267552.htm?utm_campaign=Google2&utm_source=fdaSearch&utm_medium=website&utm_term=vitamins&utm_content=1

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[gravenewworld]

None of it is regulated by the FDA. It's a complete joke. The labs vitamin and supplement makers send their products to in order to be "verified" are a joke and often times are in cohoots with the supplement makers themselves. I would never take vitamins, supplements, protein shakes, yadda yadda yadda, who knows what you're really getting. Modern day snake oil sales.

[bobze]

None of it is regulated by the FDA. It's a complete joke. The labs vitamin and supplement makers send their products to in order to be "verified" are a joke and often times are in cohoots with the supplement makers themselves. I would never take vitamins, supplements, protein shakes, yadda yadda yadda, who knows what you're really getting. Modern day snake oil sales.

Reminds me of a DVR my wife recorded of a Dateline.

The conspiracy-theorist/"natural-crowd" love to rave about "big pharma", but not many people are talking about "big-supplement". The industry is huge and like you point out, largely unregulated. People don't realize that these companies aren't held to the same standards that drug companies are. Nor are their products studied closely for adverse effects on human health.

Here is the Dateline, its a good watch for everyone;
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People need to educate themselves on this topic. And the special power the supplement/"natural-food" industry has really needs to be revoked. They really need regulated by the FDA.


Edit for the following parts;

part 2
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part 3
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[Illuminerdi]

I can't find it at its initial source, but Michael Specter had a book mentioning a lot of these topics. I googled and found this copy-paste blog http://johnshaplin.blogspot.com/2010/01/era-of-echinacea-by-michael-spector.html

which says

" "Vitamins in food are essential. And that's the way to get them. In food." With a couple of exceptions like folic acid for pregnant women and in some cases vitamin D, for the vast majority of Americans dietary supplements are a complete waste of money. Often, in fact, they are worse. In May 2009, researchers from Germany and the United States reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that antioxidants like vitamin C and E actually reduce the benefits of exercise. "Antioxidants in general...inhibit otherwise positive effects of exercise, dieting and other interventions.""


That said, the only vitamins/supplements I use are Vitamin D, B12 (vegan), and a protein powder. I can't say for certain that these work. I have noticed an increase in lean muscle mass since I've been using the protein powder, I just assume the majority of people are vitamin D deficient, and B12 is hard for vegans to attain*, and, while little is needed, the absence of it causes spinal chord degeneration.

*B12 is water soluble and the pills literally contain 16,667% of the RDA, so I split them to the smallest size where I can noticeably consume them, which essentially means a costco bottle reaches the expiration date long before one person could run out of pills.

Also, homeopathy, "alternative medicine", etc., is all a sack of ****, but everyone knows that.

[gravenewworld]

Granted this individual writing this isn't the most couth individual in the world, but his findings just go to illustrate the pervasive nature of fraud when it comes to supplements and vitamins:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/tcpmt/american_pure_whey_is_american_pure_****/


Essentially this guy is a scientist, assays a protein supplement for protein content, and finds that it is almost undetectable. The company actually responds to his post and claims it can produce their certificate of authenticity that was produced by the lab that test their product. Leave it to the internet to find out that the company that made the product and the lab that tested it are actually on the same servers w/ the same IP address. I bet this is way more common with supplements and vitamins makers than just this one case.