Re: Vitamin Supplements and Lifespan

[Guest guest]

Is this another correlational study? If so, the assumption of cause-effect may be inaccurate. It could be that people with health issues/concerns are more likely to take vitamins, which is why they had a higher mortality rate. Positive correlation does not equal cause-effect. (The article never stated whether health status was factored out of their findings.) Rodney <perspect1111@...> wrote: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7349980.stm Rodney.

[Guest guest]

It's a "let's sell newspapers study", or at least article.They do not differentiate between fat soluble and water soluble, or precursors from final form vitamins.Vitamins are obviously bio-active. Too little and too much should logically make some difference.Vitamin C as usual seems to get a pass, but being water soluble we typically just dump excess with no harm no foul.Another issue is the myriad variants of some of these vitamins. How many types of Vit E are there? I stopped counting. Eat healthy foods, and if deficient in some vitamin, eat different food.JR On Apr 16, 2008, at 10:03 AM, ~susan w~ wrote:Is this another correlational study?  If so, the assumption of cause-effect may be inaccurate.  It could be that people with health issues/concerns are more likely to take vitamins, which is why they had a higher mortality rate.  Positive correlation does not equal cause-effect.  (The article never stated whether health status was factored out of their findings.)Rodney <perspect1111 > wrote:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7349980.stmRodney.

[Guest guest]

At 09:03 AM 4/16/2008, you wrote:

>Is this another correlational study? If so, the assumption of

>cause-effect may be inaccurate. It could be that people with health

>issues/concerns are more likely to take vitamins, which is why they

>had a higher mortality rate. Positive correlation does not equal

>cause-effect.

You're preaching to the choir on that one, and the choir includes Rodney.

>(The article never stated whether health status was factored out of

>their findings.)

" The trials involved 233,000 people who were either sick or were

healthy and taking supplements for disease prevention, " so that item

remains obscure, at least overall. The study itself may well have

more detail than the BBC deigned to report.

Maco