Big US study will test vitamin D, fish oil
June 22, 2009 By MARILYNN MARCHIONE , AP Medical WriterTwo of the most popular and promising dietary supplements - vitamin D and fish oil - will be tested in a large, government-sponsored study to see whether either nutrient can lower a healthy person's risk of getting cancer, heart disease or having a stroke.
The study will be one of the first big nutrition experiments ever to target a specific racial group - blacks, who will comprise one quarter of the participants.
People with dark skin are unable to make much vitamin D from sunlight, and researchers think this deficiency may help explain why blacks have higher rates of cancer, stroke and heart disease.
"If something as simple as taking a vitamin D pill could help lower these risks and eliminate these health disparities, that would be extraordinarily exciting," said Dr. JoAnn Manson. She and Dr. Julie Buring, of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, will co-lead the study.
"But we should be cautious before jumping on the bandwagon to take mega-doses of these supplements," Manson warned. "We know from history that many of these nutrients that looked promising in observational studies didn't pan out."
Vitamins C, E, folic acid, beta carotene, selenium and even menopause hormone pills once seemed to lower the risk of cancer or heart disease - until they were tested in big studies that sometimes revealed risks instead of benefits.
In October, the government stopped a big study of vitamin E and selenium pills for prostate cancer prevention after seeing no evidence of benefit and hints of harm.
Vitamin D is one of the last major nutrients to be put to a rigorous test.
For years, evidence has been building that many people are deficient in "the sunshine vitamin." It is tough to get enough from dietary sources like milk and oily fish. Cancer rates are higher in many northern regions where sunlight is weak in the winter, and some studies have found that people with lower blood levels of vitamin D are more likely to develop cancer.
Fish oil, or omega-3 fatty acid, is widely recommended for heart health. However, studies of it so far have mostly involved people who already have heart problems or who eat a lot of fish, such as in Japan. Foods also increasingly are fortified with omega-3, so it is important to establish its safety and benefit.
"Vitamin D and omega-3s have powerful anti-inflammatory effects that may be key factors in preventing many diseases. They may also work through other pathways that influence cancer and cardiovascular risk," Manson said.
However, getting nutrients from a pill is different than getting them from foods, and correcting a deficiency is not the same as healthy people taking large doses from a supplement.
The new study, which will start later this year, will enroll 20,000 people with no history of heart attacks, stroke or a major cancer - women 65 or older and men 60 or older. They will be randomly assigned to take vitamin D, fish oil, both nutrients or dummy pills for five years.
The daily dose of vitamin D will be about 2,000 international units of D-3, also known as cholecalciferol, the most active form. For fish oil, the daily dose will be about one gram - five to 10 times what the average American gets.
Participants' health will be monitored through questionnaires, medical records and in some cases, periodic in-person exams.
"We're hoping to see a result during the trial, that we won't have to wait five years" to find out if supplements help, Manson said.
Researchers also plan to study whether these nutrients help prevent memory loss, depression, diabetes, osteoporosis and other problems, Buring said.
The $20 million study will be sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and other federal agencies. Pharmavite LLC of Northridge, Calif., is providing the vitamin D pills, and Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd. of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, is providing the omega-3 fish oil capsules.
---
On the Net:
Study information: http://www.vitalstudy.org
©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
-
Some vitamin supplements don't protect against lung cancer
May 21, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
No protective effect on cancer from long-term vitamin E or vitamin C supplementation
Nov 16, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Optimal dose of vitamin E maximizes benefits, minimizes risk
Oct 30, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Boosting key milk nutrients may protect against cancer
Jun 08, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Vitamin B12 may protect the brain in old age
Sep 08, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Fast photon control brings quantum photonic technologies closer
8 hours ago |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (33) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
Researchers illuminate link between sodium, calcium and heartbeat
Using the Canadian Light Source synchrotron, researchers from the University of British Columbia have revealed, for the first time, one of the molecular mechanisms that regulates the beating of heart cells by controlling ...
56 minutes ago |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
|
Oxygen-deprived baby rats fare worse if kept warm
New study suggests that baby rats deprived of oxygen, but kept warm, had bigger swings in glucose and insulin, metabolic and physiologic effects that could increase the chances of brain damage. Findings could have implications ...
58 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Fetal exposure to radiation increases risk of testicular cancer
Male fetuses of mothers that are exposed to radiation during early pregnancy may have an increased chance of developing testicular cancer, according to a study in mice at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. ...
17 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Prolonged fructose intake not linked to rise in blood pressure
Eating fructose over an extended period of time does not lead to an increase in blood pressure, according to researchers at St. Michael's Hospital.
47 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Challenges of identifying cognitive abilities in severely brain-injured patients
Only by employing complex machine-learning techniques to decipher repeated advanced brain scans were researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell able to provide evidence that a patient with a severe brain injury could, ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
37 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Music service gives Myspace second wind
Faded online social network Myspace said Monday it was getting a second wind due to the popularity of a freshly launched online music player.
Computer programs that think like humans
Intelligence what does it really mean? In the 1800s, it meant that you were good at memorising things, and today intelligence is measured through IQ tests where the average score for humans is 100. ...
Study shows children with IBD have difficulty in school, mostly due to absences
Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may have difficulty functioning in school, particularly because their tendency to internalize problems can impact attendance. These are the findings from a Nationwide Children's ...
Fast photon control brings quantum photonic technologies closer
(PhysOrg.com) -- Using photons instead of electrons to transmit information could lead to faster and more secure ways to communicate, among other advantages. Now a team of physicists has taken another step toward realizing ...
Brain-imaging technique predicts who will suffer cognitive decline over time
Cognitive loss and brain degeneration currently affect millions of adults, and the number will increase, given the population of aging baby boomers. Today, nearly 20 percent of people age 65 or older suffer ...
Neuron memory key to taming chronic pain
For some, the pain is so great that they can't even bear to have clothes touch their skin. For others, it means that every step is a deliberate and agonizing choice. Whether the pain is caused by arthritic joints, an injury ...
Jun 22, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
Jun 22, 2009
Rank: not rated yet