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Miscellaneous Reading Notes July 2005

These are notes on other materials I read that are likely to be relevant.

1. Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults, Fairfield KM and Fletcher RH, JAMA 287:3116-26 (2002) - Some groups of patients are at higher risk for vitamin deficiency...Many physicians may be...unsure of which vitamins they should recommend for their patients...Vitamin excess is possible...particularly for fat-soluble vitamins...Inadequate intake ... has been linked to chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis.[Table 2 lists Cohort Studies and Randomized Trials of Major Vitamin-Disease Relationships, limited to those the authors chose to cite]

2. Spring/Summer 2005 Oregon State Univ. Linus Pauling Institute Research Report

*Vitamin C detoxifies Oxidized Fat, J. F. Stevens

*Preventing Osteoporosis through Diet and Lifestyle, J. Higdou - "physically active people generally have higher bone mass density at all ages than people who are sedentary...get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity daily, including weight-bearing exercise, strength-training (at least twice a week), and activities that improve balance to help prevent falls...Most calcium supplements...are best absorbed when taken with food, but calcium citrate and calcium citrate malate are also well-absorbed on an empty stomach...Older adults...should take extra vitamin D for a total of 800 IU/day [ed. note. - 1,000 IU is considered necessary now-see vitamin D] ...teenage and adult women should aim for at least 7 servings (of colored fruits and vegetables) and teenage and adult men should aim for 9...supplements that contain no more than 2,500 IU of vitamin A...

*Recent Research on Vitamins C and E, S. Lawson - "diabetic individuals may want to refrain from taking more than 300 mg.day of supplemental vitamin C until more is known about its health effects in diabetes...LPI does not make a recommendation for supplemental beta-carotene because of the generally weak evidence of benefit and possible detrimental effects...The majority of studies that investigated the role of vitamin C in heart disease have reported beneficial effects...While too few clinical studies have been published to conclude that high-dose antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, would never interfere with any specific chemotherapeutic drug, the available evidence suggests that...concern may be unwarranted... *High-dose vitamin E and mortality - In January, 2005, a meta-analysis of clinical studies...was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine...The authors reported that the use of 400 IU/day or more of vitamin E alone...was associated with slightly increased risk of mortality...[data used for meta-analysis]undermine the assertion in [this] meta-analysis...The tolerable upper intake level for vitamin E has been set at 1,500 IU/day due to the possibility that higher doses mayh interfere with normal blood clotting...the U.S. Institute of Medicine...concluded that vitamin E is safe when taken in amounts less than the upper intake level... The long-term use of vitamin E supplements [typically 400 IU] decreased the risk of dying from ALS [amylotrophic lateral sclerosis] by 62%... Archives of Neurology in 2004 reported that the combined use of vitamin E and vitamin C - but neither vitamin alone - protects against Alzheimer's disease...Alpha-tocopherol is maintained in human plasma longer and at higher levels than gamma-tocopherol, but gamma-tocopherol, the main form of dietary vitamin E in the United States, may be present long enough for biological effects yet to be elucidated."

*Zinc and Prostate Cancer, E. Ho - "Zinc is especially important in the prostate and may protect it from early damage that could lead to cancer...our results are limited to human cells in culture"