News
Vitamin D may reduce the risk of premature births
11 February 2010
Vitamin D supplementation may reduce the risk of premature births and boost the health of newborn babies, suggests a new study.
21 April 2011
According to a new study from the American Cancer Society there is no evidence that dietary fortification or supplementation with folic acid increases colorectal cancer risk.
In the study, data from 56,011 women and 43,512 men (aged 50 to 74 years) participating in the Cancer Prevention Study II was analyzed (1). The data showed that folate intake from dietary sources ranged from 175 to 354 micrograms per day, while average folic acid intake from fortified foods, supplements, and/or multivitamins ranged from about 71 to 660 micrograms per day. In addition, over 2,000 participants had intake levels greater than the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) of 1,000 micrograms of folic acid per day. An analysis of this data showed that neither high intakes of natural folate nor folic acid were associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Moreover, total folate (from all sources) was associated with a 19 percent reduction in the risk of developing colorectal cancer.
The researchers commented that these results should allay fears that increased intake of folic acid – the synthetic form of folate – are linked to colorectal cancer risk. In the past, concerns that folic acid may increase the risk of colorectal cancer had been expressed by some scientists suggesting that folic acid, and not folate, may promote the formation of cancers under select circumstances in which a person may already have a pre-cancerous or cancerous tumor.
An overwhelming body of evidence links has linked folate deficiency in early pregnancy to increased risk of neural tube defects (NTD) in infants, which led in 1998 to the introduction of public health measures in the US and Canada, whereby all grain products are fortified with folic acid. Preliminary evidence indicates that the measure is having an effect with a reported 15 to 50 percent reduction in NTD incidence. A total of 51 countries now have some degree of mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid.
11 February 2010
Vitamin D supplementation may reduce the risk of premature births and boost the health of newborn babies, suggests a new study.
1 April 2014
Skin aging is determined by environmental factors, lifestyle and genetic aspects. Metabolic processes, solar UV radiation, smoking, alcohol consumption and illness can induce the formation of free radicals in human skin, which can destroy cells and cell components such as collagen and elastin fibers, if their concentration exceeds a critical threshold.
8 April 2013
According to a new study from Denmark low blood vitamin D concentrations seem to be related to a higher risk of developing tobacco-related cancers in smokers.