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Long Periods of Vitamin B Intake Linked to Cancer | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Multivitamin (SORIN POPA/GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO)


London- The consumption of some products containing vitamin B for long periods increases the risk of lung cancer among men. In their study published in the “Journal of Clinical Oncology” US researchers have warned smokers from highly consuming vitamin B6 and B12.

Researchers led by Theodore Brasky, from the Ohio State University said products containing vitamin B do not protect from lung cancer as previously thought, and may be harmful. The researchers analyzed data from more than 77,000 men and women who participated in a descriptive study, in which researchers sought to detect the link between the vitamin and other complementary nutrients, as well as the link between it and the risk of cancer, according to the German news agency (DPA).

At the beginning of the study which ran from 2000 to 2002, participants mentioned the vitamins they took in the last 10 years and at what dose. The doses were, on average, higher than the recommendations of the concerned health authorities in the United States.

The researchers also covered other data including the height, age, nutrition and history, as well as whether the participants were smokers. The researchers then observed the participants in the following years until late 2007, and knew who among them had lung cancer. Then they linked all these data.

Researchers found that taking vitamin B6 and B12 as a separate nutrient rather than as a multivitamin increases the risk of lung cancer among men by 30- 40 percent.

In the cases where participants took vitamin B for long periods (10 years) and at high doses (20 milligrams B6 or 55 micrograms B12 per day), the risk of cancer had almost doubled. The researchers also explained that taking the highest levels of vitamin B6 had triple the risk of lung cancer, compared with those who didn’t take supplements. For vitamin B12, that risk nearly quadrupled.

In a press release issued by the university, Braski said the risk they discovered was linked to the consumption of vitamin B at higher doses than those found in the daily intake of multivitamins.

“This is another study that warns against an over-the-counter human consumption of vitamins and supplements,” said Tillman Kun, head of the epidemiology department at the German Center for Cancer Research in Heidelberg, commenting on the conclusions of this study.