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Do You Really Need A Multivitamin?
This is from HSI e-alert (10-02-06):
Does your doctor recommend that you take vitamin and mineral supplements? Probably not, unless he's a naturopathic physician. Traditional doctors generally regard dietary supplements as quaint. Sure - they'll typically say - take vitamins if it makes you feel like they're helping, but don't expect them to work wonders.
And yet, at some point the mainstream decided that one supplement is a MUST. It's hard to imagine an obstetrician who wouldn't strongly urge expectant mothers to take a folic acid supplement. And with good reason: Folate deficiency during pregnancy has been clearly linked to brain and spinal defects in newborns.
But is folic acid a singular powerhouse of a supplement, while other supplements pale in comparison? No. It's all about perception. But a new study, which shows how multivitamin use may prevent brain tumors in adolescents, just might help change that perception.
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Moms & multivitamins
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About one in every 20,000 children under the age of six develops a brain tumor known as medulloblastoma. A similar tumor type - primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) - may occur in the brain as well as the central nervous system.
In 1993, researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHP) found evidence that the risk of these two tumors might be reduced when women take multivitamins during periconception, a period that runs from one month before conception to three months after conception.
STUDY ABSTRACT
Researchers interviewed 315 mothers of children who developed PNET or medulloblastoma before age six
315 mothers of healthy children were chosen at random to answer the same interview questions about dietary supplement use
Mothers of children with cases of the two tumors were found to be less likely to have used multivitamins during periconception compared to mothers of healthy children
The use of multivitamins after the periconception period had no statistical effect on medulloblastoma or PNET risk, suggesting that multivitamins - like folic acid supplements - should be recommended to all women of childbearing age, whether or not they're planning to become pregnant.
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Of course, this isn't the first time research has revealed benefits associated with daily multivitamin use.
A 1992 study, in which more than 145,000 subjects were examined over five years by American Cancer Society researchers, found that long term use of multivitamins was linked with a 30 percent reduced risk of colorectal cancer.
In 2003, researchers for a health care consulting firm analyzed more than 125 clinical studies to determine the extent of health benefits associated with multivitamin use, and the estimated savings in health care bills for people 65 and older. When protection from the risk of coronary artery disease was assessed in relation to demonstrated benefits to the immune system, researchers projected a five-year Medicare savings of more than $1.6 billion if all U.S. citizens over the age of 65 took a daily multivitamin.
So if you're a senior, a woman of childbearing age, or anyone else who would like to help ensure they're getting all the healthy nutrients they need, what should you look for in a multivitamin? HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., offers these three tips:
* Avoid a multivitamin that's a hard pill. Dr. Spreen: "There are a few (read that a FEW) pill forms that break down quickly, but they are rare. I always use capsule, powder or liquid forms whenever possible, as they at least guarantee that the individual gets what he swallows."
* Avoid time-release vitamins. Dr. Spreen: "I don't use time- release forms, as you're then using a preparation deliberately designed not to give its contents to you. I prefer to have the individual be his own 'time-releaser' by multiple dosing throughout the day."
* Avoid getting too much iron. Dr. Spreen: "Concerning multi- vitamin/mineral preparations there can be one problem, and that's iron. It's too high, in my opinion, for most everyone as it is a known generator of free radicals in biological systems (if it's inorganic iron, as most are in supplements)."
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