| August
20, 2007
Antioxidant Supplements May Raise Women's Skin
Cancer Risk
By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Taking antioxidant supplements
won't protect against skin cancer and may actually boost the risk,
at least in women, according to a new French study.
"Taking into consideration our results, we are particularly
concerned by the use of long-term supplementation, notably in
sun-seekers and people wanting to look tanned [using beta-carotene],"
said researcher Dr. Serge Hercberg, professor of nutrition at
the Medical University of Paris.
The new findings come on the heels of a study, published in mid-August
in the Archives of Internal Medicine, that found that antioxidants
don't prevent heart disease risk in high-risk women.
In the new French study, published in the September issue of
The Journal of Nutrition, Hercberg's team looked at the effects
of antioxidant doses on skin cancer. The research was conducted
as part of a larger study that looked at the effects of antioxidants
on cancer and ischemic heart disease.
Antioxidant nutrients are thought to reduce disease risk by cutting
down on the unhealthy effects of "free radical" molecules
that damage cells.
The researchers assigned almost 7,900 women and more than 5,100
men to take either an oral daily capsule of antioxidant or a placebo
that looked the same. The antioxidants included 120 milligrams
of vitamin C, 30 milligrams of vitamin E, 6 milligrams of beta-carotene,
100 micrograms of selenium and 20 milligrams of zinc.
"They are not high doses," Hercberg said. "They
are at a level below a lot of pills you can find to buy over the
counter."
The men and women were followed for about 7.5 years. In that
time, 157 cases of any form of skin cancers were reported, including
25 melanomas, the most deadly form.
The team found that, in women, the incidence of all types of
skin cancer combined was actually higher in the antioxidant group,
and so was their incidence of melanoma.
But the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers, when evaluated
separately, did not differ between the antioxidant and placebo
groups in men or women. In men, there was no difference in any
form of skin cancer (including melanoma) between the two groups.
In the antioxidant group, 51 women developed skin cancer, while
30 in the placebo group did. Among the men, 43 in the placebo
group and 33 in the antioxidant group got skin cancers.
As for melanoma, the incidence did not differ significantly between
the men's treatment group -- 6 in the placebo group and 3 in the
antioxidant group got it. But 3 women on placebo and 13 on antioxidants
got melanoma -- a significant difference, the researchers said.
Antioxidant studies have yielded mixed results, Hercberg stressed.
For example, in previous studies, researchers saw a higher risk
of lung cancer in heavy smokers who regularly took high doses
of beta-carotene.
Studies have suggested that antioxidant supplements might protect
against prostate cancer incidence in men with low blood levels
of prostate specific antigen (PSA), Hercberg said. But research
has also suggested that the nutrients might increase prostate
cancer risk in men with a high PSA. PSA levels are a marker for
pre-existing prostate cancer risk.
That could also be happening in the women who got more skin cancers
after taking antioxidants, he theorized. If their skin cancer
had already been developing, taking an antioxidant might not help,
Hercberg speculated.
While the study is interesting, further research is needed to
confirm it, said Dr. Ariel Ostad, a spokesman for the Skin Cancer
Foundation and a New York City dermatologist not involved in the
study.
He said the study did have one serious limitation. "It does
not take into account sunscreen use," he said. If the participants
tended not to use sunscreen, that could have affected the results.
Meanwhile, Ostad added, taking care in the sun is important,
and "sunscreens are by far the most powerful" weapon
to prevent skin cancers.
SOURCES: Serge Hercberg, M.D., Ph.D., professor, nutrition, Medical
University of Paris, France, and director, department of nutritional
epidemiology, French Institute for Health and Medical Research;
Ariel Ostad, M.D., dermatologist and spokesman, Skin Cancer Foundation,
New York City; September 2007, Journal of Nutrition
Source: www.medicinenet.com
Comment:
It is surprising yet sad, that despite mounting evidence
to prove beneficial effects and anticancer properties of
antioxidants, such misleading studies are still published.
The pharma companies spend enormous amount of time to research
and expand the indications of their already approved and
dangerous drugs. Extensive studies on nutrients will not
yield similar profits for them. Such negative, and flawed
studies about nutrients will just distract people from their
beneficial effects. In this particular study about 8000
men and women were studied and at the end of about 8 years
they found 125 cases of skin cancer, including melanoma.
Study also found that the occurance of melanoma was slightly
higher in the antioxidant group but the non-melanoma skin
cancer was not different in both the groups. However before
jumping to conclusions this study does not take into account
that there would be several other factors that would affect
an individual’s risk of developing any type of skin
cancer. And despite the fact that the number of women developing
skin cancer, is far less than mentioned in the above study
of RA drugs causing skin cancer, this study is highly publicized
and the author of that study said that the negligible risk
of RA drug causing skin cancer outweighs the benefits from
drugs.
Pharmaceutical companies go to any length to neglect and
discredit benefits of nutrients, and magnify wonders of
drugs. Why? Because nutrients do not yield as much of profit
as chemically synthesized drugs. Dr. Rath has scientifically
proven and documented the effectiveness and safety of specific
nutrient synergy in managing cancer. You an read more about
his outstanding research in cancer at: www.drrathresearch.org
and his fight against the pharmaceutical business with disease
at: www4.dr-rath-foundation.org
and in the book “Road Map to Health”. |
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