Watch out! Scientists target these vitamins for link to lung cancer
The German Cancer Society warns against the use of dietary supplements as they may increase the risk of cancer.
In the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study back in 2004, men who took high doses of vitamin B6 and B12 for years had a higher risk of lung cancer.
Participants, followed for 6 years, reported taking multivitamin preparations, individual vitamins, or mixtures, such as vitamin B complex preparations, at least once a week for more than a year. Using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry in the United States, 808 of the study participants were found to have lung cancer.
The study suggests that long-term use of vitamin B6 and B12 supplements increases the risk of lung cancer in men. According to the study, men who had consumed the highest dose of more than 20 mg of vitamin B6 per day or more than 55 µg of vitamin B12 per day on average for 10 years were at the greatest disadvantage: they were at risk of developing lung cancer, almost twice as high as those who had not taken any supplements.
A more recent study at Harvard University in 2017 argues that high dosages of vitamin B6 or B12 supplements were associated with three to four times the lung cancer risk in male smokers.
According to the German Cancer Society, the antioxidant effect of certain vitamins has long been used in hopes that cancer can be prevented by increased intake of the corresponding vitamins and substances. However, they also point out that there is very little evidence: not all mechanisms and effects of antioxidants in the body are known.
It is not trivial to take supplements. The body does not always react as expected. The German Cancer Society only considers additional intake of nutritional supplements containing vitamins to be useful in special circumstances: such as pregnancy, a disease in which the absorption of substances such as vitamin D or calcium in the gastrointestinal tract is impaired. Excessive intake can be harmful and even increase the risk of cancer.
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