News
Can supplements alone prevent chronic diseases?
5 January 2012
A new French study claims that the use of dietary supplements may not improve general well-being. Experts criticize the study’s poor validity.
15 March 2010
Vitamin D supplementation during the winter may reduce the incidence of influenza A, especially in specific subgroups of schoolchildren, says a new study.
In the randomized controlled trial, the incidence of influenza A was compared in 430 schoolchildren (aged 6–15 years) taking vitamin D3 supplements (1,200 IU /day) with a group taking placebo during four months (1). The results showed a significant preventive effect against influenza A in children supplementing vitamin D, although no significant difference was observed for influenza B.
The preventive effect of vitamin D was consistent and more prominent in some subgroups of children, including those who had not been taking vitamin D supplements other than the study and children who did not have asthma. Children with asthma may be more susceptible to influenza. However, asthma attacks were also prevented by vitamin D3 supplementation.
The researchers suggested that vitamin D supplementation possibly reduced the risk of influenza A by enhancing innate immunity. They commented that further studies need to include a larger sample size of schoolchildren without comorbidities to determine the optimal dose and duration of vitamin D supplementation by measurement of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D.
5 January 2012
A new French study claims that the use of dietary supplements may not improve general well-being. Experts criticize the study’s poor validity.
6 May 2013
The UK National Osteoporosis Society has developed new clinical guidelines for the management of vitamin D deficiency due to a lack of national recommendations on the indications for vitamin D measurements and conflicting guidelines from various organizations.
1 June 2011
Observations from epidemiological studies on the protective effect of antioxidant micronutrients in relation to cardiovascular diseases (see Part 1) warranted an attempt to prove the hypothesis by means of intervention studies. However, the results of many randomized controlled studies were disappointing: many investigations revealed few, if any, differences between groups receiving placebo and those receiving food supplements with vitamin C and/or E and beta-carotene in regard to the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a benefit was found in only a few groups.