From: 23x11.5c@gmail.com   
      
   The Case Against Multivitamins Grows Stronger    
      
   December 17, 201312:37 PM ET    
   NANCY SHUTE    
      
      
   Though some people might need more of specific vitamins, multivitamins don't   
   help most people, studies say.    
      
      
   When I was growing up my mom gave me a multivitamin every day as a defense   
   against unnamed dread diseases.    
      
   But it looks like Mom was wasting her money. Evidence continues to mount that   
   vitamin supplements don't help most people and can actually cause diseases   
   that people are taking them to prevent, like cancer.    
      
   Three studies published Monday add to multivitamins' bad rap. One review found   
   no benefit in preventing early death, heart disease or cancer. Another found   
   that taking multivitamins did nothing to stave off cognitive decline with   
   aging. A third found    
   that high-dose multivitamins didn't help people who had had one heart attack   
   avoid another.    
      
   "Enough is enough," declares an editorial accompanying the studies in Annals   
   of Internal Medicine. "Stop wasting money on vitamin and mineral supplements."    
      
   But enough is not enough for the American public. We spend $28 billion a year   
   on vitamin supplements and are projected to spend more. About 40 percent of   
   Americans take multivitamins, the editorial says.    
      
   Even people who know about all these studies showing no benefit continue to   
   buy multivitamins for their families. Like, uh, me. They couldn't hurt, right?    
      
   If only it was as simple as popping a supplement and being set for life. But   
   alas, no.    
   Shots - Health News    
   More Evidence Against Vitamin D To Build Bones In Middle Age    
   In most cases, no. But $28 billion is a lot to spend on a worthless medical   
   treatment. So I called up Steven Salzberg, a professor of medicine at Johns   
   Hopkins who has written about Americans' love affair with vitamins, to find   
   out why we're so reluctant    
   to give up the habit.    
      
   "I think this is a great example of how our intuition leads us astray,"   
   Salzberg told Shots. "It seems reasonable that if a little bit of something is   
   good for you, then more should be better for you. It's not true.   
   Supplementation with extra vitamins or    
   micronutrients doesn't really benefit you if you don't have a deficiency."    
      
   Vitamin deficiencies can kill, and that discovery has made for some great   
   medical detective stories. Salzberg points to James Lind, a Scottish physician   
   who proved in 1747 that citrus juice could cure scurvy, which had killed more   
   sailors than all wars    
   combined. It was not until much later that scientists discovered that the   
   magic ingredient was vitamin C.    
      
   Ads often tout dietary supplements and vitamins as "natural" remedies. But   
   studies show megadoses of some vitamins can actually boost the risk of heart   
   disease and cancer, warns Dr. Paul Offit.    
   Shots - Health News    
   A Scientist Debunks The 'Magic' Of Vitamins And Supplements    
   Lack of vitamin D causes rickets. Lack of niacin causes pellagra, which was a   
   big problem in the Southern U.S. in the early 1900s. Lack of vitamin A causes   
   blindness. And lack of folic acid can cause spina bifida, a crippling   
   deformity.    
      
   Better nutrition and vitamin-fortified foods have made these problems pretty   
   much history.    
      
   Now when public health officials talk about vitamin deficiencies and health,   
   they're talking about specific populations and specific vitamins. Young women   
   tend to be low on iodine, which is key for brain development in a fetus,   
   according to a 2012 report    
   from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And Mexican-American   
   women and young children are more likely to be iron deficient. But even in   
   that group, we're talking about 11 percent of the children, and 13 percent of   
   the women.    
      
   Recent studies have shown that too much beta carotene and vitamin E can cause   
   cancer, and it's long been known that excess vitamin A can cause liver damage,   
   coma and death. That's what happened to Arctic explorers when they ate too   
   much polar bear liver,    
   which is rich in vitamin A.    
      
   "You need a balance," Salzberg says. But he agrees with the Annals editorial   
   -- enough already. "The vast majority of people taking multivitamins and other   
   supplemental vitamins don't need them. I don't need them, so I stopped."    
      
   I'm still struggling with the notion that mother didn't know best. But maybe   
   when the current bottle of kids' chewable vitamins runs out, I won't buy more.    
      
   vitamins    
   cardiovascular disease    
   cancer    
   children's health    
      
      
   http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/17/251955878/the-case-ag   
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