VITAMINS LINKED WITH HIGHER DEATH RISK IN OLDER WOMEN

By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

When it comes to vitamins, it appears you could have too much of a good thing, say researchers who report a link between their use and higher death rates among older women.

Experts have suspected for some time that supplements may only be beneficial if a person is deficient in a nutrient.

And excess may even harm, as the study in Archives of Internal Medicine finds.

All of the women, in their 50s and 60s, were generally well nourished yet many had decided to take supplements.

Multivitamins, folic acid, vitamin B6, magnesium, zinc, copper and iron in particular appeared to increase mortality risk.

The researchers believe consumers are buying supplements with no evidence that they will provide any benefit.

Harms v gains

They are quick to stress that their study relied on the 38,000 US women who took part in it recalling what vitamins and minerals they had taken over the previous two decades.

And it is difficult to control for all other factors, like general physical health, that might have influenced the findings.

But they say their findings suggest that supplements should only be used if there is a strong medically-based cause for doing so because of the potential to cause harm.

"Based on existing evidence, we see little justification for the general and widespread use of dietary supplements," Dr Jaakko Mursu of the University of Eastern Finland and his research colleagues said.

Less is more

In the study, iron tablets were strongly linked with a small (2.4%) increased death risk, as were many other supplements. The link with iron was dose-dependent, meaning the more of it the individual took, the higher their risk was

Conversely, calcium supplements appeared to reduce death risk. However, the researchers say this finding needs more investigation and they do not recommend that people take calcium unless advised to by a doctor in order to treat a deficiency.

Read the full story @ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15238610

Meanwhile, the author has left us with three important points that we should consider when taking supplements:

1.   A healthy diet should provide enough nutrients without the need for supplements, experts advise.

2.   Too much supplement can be toxic and it is easy to inadvertently take more than the recommended daily amount

3.   Based on existing evidence, there is little justification for the general and widespread use of dietary supplements.