Excessive Multivitamin Use May Raise Risk For Prostate Cancer
Main Category: Prostate / Prostate CancerAlso Included In: Nutrition / Diet; Men's health
Article Date: 28 Sep 2007 - 1:00 PDT
| Patient / Public: | ![]() |
3.88 (8 votes) |
| Health Professional: | ![]() |
3.5 (2 votes) |
| Article Opinions: | 0 posts |
About a third of American adults take some type of multivitamin on a regular basis. In nearly every case, the goal is better health, even though there is no firm evidence to support this hope. The absence of benefit is one thing, but the presence of harm is another: A 2007 report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute concluded that there was an increased prostate cancer risk among men using multivitamins, reports the October 2007 issue of Harvard Men's Health Watch .
When scientists further explored this finding, they found no link between multivitamin use and the risk of developing localized prostate cancer. But they did find that men who take multivitamins more than once a day were 32% are more likely to develop advanced prostate cancer and 98% more likely to die from the disease.
However, the study had its limitations. For example, it was not designed to determine whether multivitamins actually caused cancer; it did not ascertain which multivitamins were taken; and the results failed to establish a relationship between dose and response. Moreover, other studies have shown no connection between prostate cancer and multivitamins. Faced with this contradictory information, scientists know they need more studies, and several are already under way.
Meanwhile, what should you do? Harvard Men's Health Watch suggests that a good diet and other lifestyle changes may help lower your prostate cancer risk. As for vitamins, the new study cautions against excessive multivitamin use, but it does not show harm from a daily supplement that sticks to the recommended daily amounts of the standard vitamins. Above all, the new study adds to the growing body of evidence that tells us not to count on supplements.
Harvard Men's Health Watch
Harvard Health Publications Harvard Medical School 10 Shattuck St., Ste. 612
Cambridge, MA 02115
United States
http://www.health.harvard.edu
|
Please rate this article: (Hover over the stars then click to rate) |
Patient / Public: |
or |
Health Professional: |
Add to:
Contact Our News Editors
For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.
![]()
Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:
| Back to top | Back to front page | List of All Medical Articles |
| Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | © 2008 MediLexicon International Ltd |





