Anti-oxidant supplements and mortality

Many people believe that vitamin supplementation will improve overall health, but many studies show no obvious benefits and some have even shown harm. A recent meta-analysis was performed on 68 randomized trials involving 230,000 participants to try to determine if these vitamins are beneficial. In analysis of the 47 best trials, beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E significantly increased the overall risk of death compared to the participants who took placebo! Vitamin C and selenium had no effect on the overall risk of death.

The increased risk of death in patients taking the anti-oxidant vitamin supplements was small, but our assumptions that all vitamin supplements are beneficial may need to be changed. It is safer and healthier to eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables.

WHO recommends circumcision to deter AIDS epidemic

New recommendations from the World Health Organization and the U.N. AIDS agency advise that “countries with rampant AIDS epidemics should begin offering free or subsidized circumcisions in hopes of preventing millions of new infections and deaths.” The announcement “capped a gradual reversal in attitudes about circumcision. A small group of researchers has been hailing its value for more than a decade, producing dozens of studies showing that regions with high HIV rates generally have low rates of circumcision. Three experiments, including two whose results were reported in December, have largely settled the debate in the scientific community.” Circumcision also lowers the risk of genital warts, which can be transmitted to female partners and cause cervical cancer.