Taking Vitamins May Help Tumours To Grow

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Taking vitamin or mineral supplements could be feeding tumours and allowing them to grow, suggests new research. Common antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and selenium and zinc when taken additionally can all cause blood vessels in cancer to grow. The discovery has come as a surprise as antioxidants were believed to be protective.

The researchers said that natural levels in food were fine but if people take supplements containing antioxidants as well then the extra amount can fuel tumour growth. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, was carried out by the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. It concluded that Vitamin C and other antioxidants stimulate the formation of new blood vessels in lung cancer tumours.

They say this could apply to all cancers and the spread of cancer. Study leader Martin Bergö, professor at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, said: “We’ve found that antioxidants activate a mechanism that causes cancer tumours to form new blood vessels, which is surprising, since it was previously thought that antioxidants have a protective effect….Story continues….

By: Telegraph reporters 

Source: Taking vitamins may help tumours to grow, new research suggests

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Critics:

Once discovered, vitamins were actively promoted in articles and advertisements in McCall’s, Good Housekeeping, and other media outlets.Marketers enthusiastically promoted cod-liver oil, a source of vitamin D, as “bottled sunshine”, and bananas as a “natural vitality food”. They promoted foods such as yeast cakes, a source of B vitamins, on the basis of scientifically determined nutritional value, rather than taste or appearance.

 In 1942, when flour enrichment with nicotinic acid began, a headline in the popular press said “Tobacco in Your Bread.” In response, the Council on Foods and Nutrition of the American Medical Association approved of the Food and Nutrition Board‘s new names niacin and niacin amide for use primarily by non-scientists. It was thought appropriate to choose a name to dissociate nicotinic acid from nicotine, to avoid the perception that vitamins or niacin-rich food contains nicotine, or that cigarettes contain vitamins.

The resulting name niacin was derived from nicotinic acid + vitamin. Researchers also focused on the need to ensure adequate nutrition, especially to compensate for what was lost in the manufacture of processed foods. Robert W. Yoder is credited with first using the term vitamania, in 1942, to describe the appeal of relying on nutritional supplements rather than on obtaining vitamins from a varied diet of foods.

The continuing preoccupation with a healthy lifestyle led to an obsessive consumption of vitamins and multi-vitamins, the beneficial effects of which are questionable. As one example, in the 1950s, the Wonder Bread company sponsored the Howdy Doody television show, with host Buffalo Bob Smith telling the audience, “Wonder Bread builds strong bodies 8 ways”, referring to the number of added nutrients. 

The term “vitamin” was derived from “vitamine”, a compound word coined in 1912 by the biochemist Casimir Funk while working at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine. Funk created the name from vital and amine, because it appeared that these organic micronutrient food factors that prevent beriberi and perhaps other similar dietary-deficiency diseases were required for life, hence “vital”, and were chemical amines, hence “amine”.

This was true of thiamine, but after it was found that vitamin C and other such micronutrients were not amines, the word was shortened to “vitamin” in English.The body’s stores for different vitamins vary widely; vitamins A, D, and B₁₂ are stored in significant amounts, mainly in the liver, and an adult’s diet may be deficient in vitamins A and D for many months and B₁₂ in some cases for years, before developing a deficiency condition.

However, vitamin B₃ (niacin and niacinamide) is not stored in significant amounts, so stores may last only a couple of weeks. For vitamin C, the first symptoms of scurvy in experimental studies of complete vitamin C deprivation in humans have varied widely, from a month to more than six months, depending on previous dietary history that determined body stores. 

Deficiencies of vitamins are classified as either primary or secondary. A primary deficiency occurs when an organism does not get enough of the vitamin in its food. A secondary deficiency may be due to an underlying disorder that prevents or limits the absorption or use of the vitamin, due to a “lifestyle factor”, such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or the use of medications that interfere with the absorption or use of the vitamin.

 People who eat a varied diet are unlikely to develop a severe primary vitamin deficiency, but may be consuming less than the recommended amounts; a national food and supplement survey conducted in the US over 2003-2006 reported that over 90% of individuals who did not consume vitamin supplements were found to have inadequate levels of some of the essential vitamins, notably vitamins D and E.

Well-researched human vitamin deficiencies involve thiamine (beriberi), niacin (pellagra), vitamin C (scurvy), folate (neural tube defects) and vitamin D (rickets). In much of the developed world these deficiencies are rare due to an adequate supply of food and the addition of vitamins to common foods.In addition to these classical vitamin deficiency diseases, some evidence has also suggested links between vitamin deficiency and a number of different disorders.

Some vitamins have documented acute or chronic toxicity at larger intakes, which is referred to as hypertoxicity. The European Union and the governments of several countries have established Tolerable upper intake levels (ULs) for those vitamins which have documented toxicity (see table). The likelihood of consuming too much of any vitamin from food is remote, but excessive intake (vitamin poisoning) from dietary supplements does occur.

In 2016, overdose exposure to all formulations of vitamins and multi-vitamin/mineral formulations was reported by 63,931 individuals to the American Association of Poison Control Centers with 72% of these exposures in children under the age of five. In the US, analysis of a national diet and supplement survey reported that about 7% of adult supplement users exceeded the UL for folate and 5% of those older than age 50 years exceeded the UL for vitamin A.

In those who are otherwise healthy, there is little evidence that supplements have any benefits with respect to cancer or heart disease. Vitamin A and E supplements not only provide no health benefits for generally healthy individuals, but they may increase mortality, though the two large studies that support this conclusion included smokers for whom it was already known that beta-carotene supplements can be harmful.

 A 2018 meta-analysis found no evidence that intake of vitamin D or calcium for community-dwelling elderly people reduced bone fractures. Europe has regulations that define limits of vitamin (and mineral) dosages for their safe use as dietary supplements. Most vitamins that are sold as dietary supplements are not supposed to exceed a maximum daily dosage referred to as the tolerable upper intake level (UL or Upper Limit).

Vitamin products above these regulatory limits are not considered supplements and should be registered as prescription or non-prescription (over-the-counter drugs) due to their potential side effects. The European Union, United States and Japan establish ULs. Dietary supplements often contain vitamins, but may also include other ingredients, such as minerals, herbs, and botanicals. Scientific evidence supports the benefits of dietary supplements for persons with certain health conditions.

In some cases, vitamin supplements may have unwanted effects, especially if taken before surgery, with other dietary supplements or medicines, or if the person taking them has certain health conditions. They may also contain levels of vitamins many times higher, and in different forms, than one may ingest through food.

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Thiamin, vitamin B1: MedlinePlus Supplements”. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health.