Word: cancerously
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Wouldn't it be great if preventing cancer were as easy as taking vitamins every day? It certainly makes sense; cancer results from oxidative damage to the DNA of cells, and many vitamins are powerful antioxidants that can curb that dangerous process. That's the theory that two groups of researchers decided to test with respect to prostate cancer. But after more than 13 years of combined study, their answer was, unfortunately, a resounding no: vitamins don't prevent prostate cancer...
...separate reports, both appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that men who took vitamins C or E or selenium developed prostate cancer as frequently as men who did not take the vitamins. In one trial, called SELECT, which tested the preventive effects of vitamin E and selenium in more than 35,000 men, participants taking 400 IU of vitamin E daily or 200 micrograms of selenium each day, or a combination of the two, had the same rates of prostate cancer as the placebo group. In the second study, involving more than 14,000 physicians...
...were very disappointed that [supplements] didn't work to prevent prostate cancer and other cancers," says Dr. Scott Lippman, professor of medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center and lead author of the vitamin E and selenium study. "But the study illustrates the importance of establishing efficacy before recommending public health usage. There is very high consumption of these supplements, based on the assumption that they do prevent prostate cancer...
Indeed, several earlier studies had hinted that vitamins may protect against prostate cancer (as well as other cancers), but the data were conflicting. In a trial involving 29,000 Finnish subjects in which researchers tested whether vitamin E could reduce lung cancer in smokers, those taking the supplements did not enjoy a lower rate of lung cancer but did develop 34% fewer cases of prostate cancer compared to controls. In the same study, subjects taking supplements that contained a form of selenium also showed a 63% lower risk of developing prostate cancer. But a separate trial of 7,000 heart...
...While research regarding photodynamic therapies has focused on cancer in the past, Hasaan said that she is now interested in using the therapy to treat infections...