Smokers and drinkers who take popular vitamin supplement preventing cancer could actually promote it!
Through government and school education the general public’s awareness of cancer risk factors has increased over the past decades. Nevertheless more research is needed to eradicate this spectrum of diseases which means that there will be a steady supply of care jobs within the foreseeable future.
New studies showed that vitamin supplements that are meant to prevent cancer may in fact do the exact opposite. Beta-carotene supplements doubled the risk of recurring adenomas in people who smoked or drank more than one alcoholic drink a day, according to the findings. Adenomas are benign tumours that can lead to colorectal cancer.
But in non-smokers and drinkers, the supplements were associated with a 44 per cent decrease in the risk of colorectal adenomas, said researchers from Dartmouth Medical School, New Hampshire, USA.
Researcher Professor John Baron said the study showed supplements had different effects on different people.
“These findings illustrate the complexity we face in designing safe and effective chemopreventative strategies for any cancer,” Professor Baron said.
The study examined data on 864 people at four US centres who were polyp free after having had previous polyps removed.
They were randomly assigned to receive a placebo, beta-carotene, vitamin C plus vitamin E, or beta-carotene plus vitamins C and E. They also answered questions about drinking and smoking habits.
“Supplementation was beneficial among subjects who did not drink or smoke but, if anything, increased risk among those who drank and/or smoked,” Professor Baron said.
The study was published in the May 21 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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