Yawn. We have yet another example of the perpetual
conveyor belt of studies seeking, and failing to find, any evidence of health
benefits from so-called “dietary/nutritional supplements.” In the current JAMA, a piece under the rubric “clinical
evidence synopsis” entitled “Antioxidant Supplements to Prevent Mortality”
(we’ll get to that title later), experts from the Cochrane Collaboration Group
in Copenhagen, Denmark reviewed 78 studies — all clinical trials — whose goal
was to assess antioxidant supplements for “prevention of all-cause mortality.”
(As an aside, we all know, do we not, that mortality cannot in fact be
“prevented,” only delayed; the goal of public health should be to prevent premature mortality).
The group reviewed studies that included almost 300,000
subjects, data from whom were accumulated over the years 1977-2012. The
subjects were assessed in primary or secondary prevention trials consisting of
healthy participants or those with stable, chronic diseases. The group studied
had about the same number of men and women, with a wide age-range. The
antioxidant supplements studied were some of the usual suspects: beta carotene,
vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium. The study was designed to
measure the change in all-cause death rate (mortality)…..To Read More…
No comments:
Post a Comment