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2011-10-11 12:37:52
By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News
When it comes to vitamins, it appears you could have too much of a good thing,
say researchers who report a link between their use and higher death rates
among older women.
Experts have suspected for some time that supplements may only be beneficial if
a person is deficient in a nutrient.
And excess may even harm, as the study in Archives of Internal Medicine finds.
All of the women, in their 50s and 60s, were generally well nourished yet many
had decided to take supplements.
Multivitamins, folic acid, vitamin B6, magnesium, zinc, copper and iron in
particular appeared to increase mortality risk.
The researchers believe consumers are buying supplements with no evidence that
they will provide any benefit.
Harms v gains
Start Quote
Based on existing evidence, we see little justification for the general and
widespread use of dietary supplements
The study authors
They are quick to stress that their study relied on the 38,000 US women who
took part in it recalling what vitamins and minerals they had taken over the
previous two decades.
And it is difficult to control for all other factors, like general physical
health, that might have influenced the findings.
But they say their findings suggest that supplements should only be used if
there is a strong medically-based cause for doing so because of the potential
to cause harm.
"Based on existing evidence, we see little justification for the general and
widespread use of dietary supplements," Dr Jaakko Mursu of the University of
Eastern Finland and his research colleagues said.
Less is more
In the study, iron tablets were strongly linked with a small (2.4%) increased
death risk, as were many other supplements. The link with iron was
dose-dependent, meaning the more of it the individual took, the higher their
risk was.
Start Quote
Too much can be toxic and it is easy to inadvertently take more than the
recommended daily amount
Helen Bond British Dietetic Association
Conversely, calcium supplements appeared to reduce death risk. However, the
researchers say this finding needs more investigation and they do not recommend
that people take calcium unless advised to by a doctor in order to treat a
deficiency.
Drs Christian Gluud and Goran Bjelakovic, who review research for the Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews to evaluate best evidence, said: "We think the
paradigm 'The more the better' is wrong."
They say dietary supplementation has shifted from preventing deficiency to
trying to promote wellness and prevent diseases, and caution: "We believe that
for all micronutrients, risks are associated with insufficient and too-large
intake."
Helen Bond of the British Dietetic Association said some people, like the
elderly, might need to take certain supplements. For example, vitamin D is
recommended for people over the age of 65.
But she said that generally, people should be able to get all the vitamins and
minerals they needed from a healthy, balanced diet.
She said some took supplements as an insurance policy, wrongly assuming that
they could do no harm. "But too much can be toxic and it is easy to
inadvertently take more than the recommended daily amount."