Vitamins linked to health threat

Thu, 01 Mar 2007

Whether you have private medical insurance or not, taking some vitamins could have a major impact on your health . At least, that is the conclusion of researchers at the Centre for Clinical Intervention Research at Copenhagen University Hospital.

According to scientists, supplements such as beta carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E could all have a negative impact on the health of the people who take them. The supplements are offered as antioxidant, healthy and preventative of certain diseases.

To glean their results, the researchers analysed almost 70 trials, with well over 200,000 participants. They aimed to establish the risk of death amongst adults who took the supplements, and found that supplements were linked to increased risk of death.

The researchers reportedly commented: "Our systematic review contains a number of findings. Beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E given singly or combined with other antioxidant supplements significantly increase mortality."

They concluded: "We are exposed to intense marketing with a contrary statement, which is also reflected by the high number of publications per included randomised trial found in the present review."

The findings caused controversy amongst healthcare experts, who dismissed them as worthless.
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