Media outlets around the world have had a field day reporting on the release of a study, funded by the Swedish Cancer Foundation and the Swedish Research Council for Infrastructure. The study concluded that women who took multivitamins regularly, had a 19% higher risk of developing breast cancer, than non - users.
What fails to be mentioned is the framework of the study, which both the Complementary Healthcare Council (CHC) and Blackmores, raised as having questionable parameters, this past week.
Dr Wendy Morrow, executive director of the CHC, said it had "some concerns over limitations to the study", pointing out that there had been a lack of evaluation of bioactivity and the use of a self-administered questionaire.
In layman terms this means some key factors were overlooked, in terms of evaluation of the ingredients of the vitamins used in the study, the brands used, and the fact that throughout the study, data collected about dietary supplement use was solely based on individual feedback, which may have been skewed. No real control mechanism was in place to ensure correct recording of information.
Blackmores also pointed out that the evidence was inconclusive, and in fact clashed with results from other studies, citing a large study from Harvard University, over six years, which found "that multivitamin use was NOT related to overall risk of breast cancer and that multivitamin supplements may in fact, REDUCE the risk of breast cancer in some groups of women."
Such conflicting press coverage only serves to confuse and confound the general public, which makes one wonder about the true purpose of reporting results from a study that appears to have not been done particularly well. Frankly, I think I'd rather err on the side of the decision of an independent researcher, such as Harvard University, than one funded by a Cancer Foundation.
It pays to dig a little deeper at times, when you read such sensational headlines.
In Good Health
Patricia
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