B-Vitamins Help Overall Cell Health in Women Over 65 By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS,

December 24, 2008

B-Vitamins Help Overall Cell Health (Reduce Cancer Risk) in Women Over 65

By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, November 24, 2008, abstracted from " Effect

of Combined Folic Acid, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12 on Cancer Risk in

Women: A Randomized Trial " in the November 5, 2008 issue of the

American Medical Association

B vitamins have been found to benefit mental health1, memory health2,

immune system health3, heart health4, lung health5 and overall health6.

Now a new study7 has found that B vitamins may help cell health and

cancer risk in women over 65. Cancer cost our healthcare system $209

billion in 20078, of which direct medical costs (patient care, drugs,

and devices) accounted for $74 billion, indirect morbidity costs (lost

productivity) accounted for $17.5 billion, and indirect mortality

costs (lost productivity due to premature death) accounted for $118.4

billion9. The top four cancers and their direct costs to our

healthcare system include lung cancer ($9.6 billion), breast cancer

($8.1 billion), colorectal cancer ($8.4 billion), and prostate cancer

($8.0 billion)10.

In the study, researchers looked at data on nearly 5,500 women from

the Women's Antioxidant and Folic Acid Cardiovascular Study

(WAFACS)11. The data concerned B-vitamin intake and its possible

effects on reducing disease risks. While the researchers found no

benefit with vitamin B supplementation and cancer risks across all age

groups overall, there was a 25% reduced risk of total invasive cancer

and a 38% reduced risk of breast cancer among women 65 years or older.

For the researchers, the significant benefit of B vitamin

supplementation in women over 65 years of age " may have public health

significance because the incidence rates of cancer are high in elderly

persons. "

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA.

You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at

mailto:PitchingDoc@... or visiting his web site at

www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

Reference:

1 Luchsinger JA. Relation of Higher Folate Intake to Lower Risk of

Alzheimer Disease in the Elderly. Arch Neurol. 2007;64:86-92

2 " The First Ever Dementia Conference Opens In Washington, DC " posted

on the Alzheimer's Association Website http://www.alz.org/

3 C.J. Field, I.R. and P.D. Schley, Nutrients and their role

in host resistance to infection, J Leukoc Biol 71 (2002), pp. 16–32

4 Wang X. Efficacy of folic acid supplementation in stroke

prevention: a meta-analysis. The Lancet 2007; 369(9576):1876-1882

5 Sheila M Innis. Choline-related supplements improve abnormal

plasma methionine-homocysteine metabolites and glutathione status in

children with cystic fibrosis Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Mar 2007; 85:

702 – 708

6 Paraskevi D. Dietary choline and betaine intakes in relation to

concentrations of inflammatory markers in healthy adults: the ATTICA

study. Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Feb 2008; 87: 424 – 430

7 Zhang SM. Effect of Combined Folic Acid, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin

B12 on Cancer Risk in Women: A Randomized Trial. JAMA.

2008;300(17):2012-2021.

8 " Costs of Cancer: Issues and Implications " posted on

http://dceg.cancer.gov/files/genomicscourse/meropol-011007.pdf

9 American Cancer Society: Cancer facts and figures 2006, 2006

update. http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/CAFF2006PWSecured.pdf

10 " Costs of Cancer Care " posted on

http://progressreport.cancer.gov/doc_detail.asp?pid=1 & did=2007 & chid=75 & coid=726 & \

mid

11 Study Details of WAFACS are available at

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00000541?term=NCT00000541 & rank=1