Submission + - The Dark Side of Antioxidants
Kas Thomas writes: In a controversial blog at Big Think, we learn that over the years, thousands of people have died in vitamin trials designed to prevent cancer. One meta-analysis looked at 47 studies (covering the 1977 to 2006 time frame) and found that 15,366 study subjects (out of a total treatment population of 99,095 persons) died while taking vitamins E and/or A (and/or selenium), whereas 9,131 placebo-takers, in control groups totalling 81,843 persons, died in those same studies. The key finding is that if you're already healthy, these vitamins may make you more so, but if your body is harboring precancerous cells, the vitamins, by inhibiting normal apoptosis, actually spare the cancer cells and let them live when they shouldn't. More than one meta-study has confirmed the effect. Antioxidant vitamins are a double-edged sword; and one of the edges is very sharp.
