DB'S MEDICAL RANTS

Internal medicine, American health care, and especially medical education

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Are vitamin supplements dangerous?

Common wisdom encourages everyone to take vitamins daily. I often resist common wisdom. I knew of no data supporting vitamin supplements, and felt that I ate a balanced diet. This article suggests that I may be correct.

Vitamins ‘may shorten your life’

A review of 67 studies found “no convincing evidence” that antioxidant supplements cut the risk of dying.

Scientists at Copenhagen University said vitamins A and E could interfere with the body’s natural defences.

“Even more, beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E seem to increase mortality,” according to the review by the respected Cochrane Collaboration.

The research involved selecting various studies from 817 on beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium which the team felt were the most likely to fairly reflect the benefits of the supplements.

So I will eschew vitamin supplements for a few more years.  NNT the author of Black Swan probably enjoys this story, because it shows the triumph of empiric data rather than theory.

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