• Vitamin Therapy for Cancer
• Overcoming Dementia with Ginkgo
• Vitamin C and Cancer Fatigue
• Vitamins Can Save Americans Billions
• Improving Athletic Performance
• Vitamins and Zinc for Children
• Health Tip

Vitamin Therapy for Cancer

In early nutrition research, nutrient functions were linked to classical nutrient deficiency syndromes—vitamin C and scurvy, vitamin D and rickets, niacin and pellagra.

Now nutrition researchers are finding various levels of functions of nutrients. For example, even though 10 IU of vitamin E is considered the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), 800 IU was shown to improve immune functions in healthy older adults.

While 10 mg of vitamin C will prevent scurvy in most adults and the RDA is 60 mg, 300 mg was shown to extend life span in males by an average of six years.

RDAs apply to healthy people and don't cover special nutrition needs that arise from metabolic disorders, chronic diseases, injuries, or drug therapies.

Most cancer patients probably need far more than the RDA of a variety of nutrients to aid recovery. Many nutritional factors both directly and indirectly help fight tumor cells.

Mechanisms include preventing carcinogen formation, increasing detoxification, inhibiting abnormal cell replication, controlling expression of malignancy, blocking precancerous cell divisions, and enhancing cell-to-cell communication.

Oncologists at West Virginia Medical School in Morgantown randomized 65 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder into two groups. Group one received a one-a-day vitamin supplement providing the RDA, plus placebo pills. Group two received the RDA supplement plus 40,000 IU of vitamin A, 100 mg of vitamin B6, 2,000 mg of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, and 90 mg of zinc.

At 10 months, tumor recurrence was 80% in the control group (RDA supplement) and 40% in the megavitamin group. Five-year projected tumor recurrence was 91% for controls and 41% for the megavitamin group. Essentially, high-dose nutrients cut tumor recurrence in half.

Retrospective analyses show that therapeutic nutrition helps cancer patients. Of the 200 cancer patients studied who experienced "spontaneous regression," 87% made a major change in diet (eating more vegetables and less meat), 55% used some form of detoxification (herbs, enemas, chelation therapy, or other methods), and 65% used nutritional supplements.

Reference: Patrick Quillin, Ph.D., R.D., C.N.S., Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), Beating Cancer With Nutrition. For more information about CTCA, call 1-800-FOR-HELP.

The geriatric disease dementia is defined as an acquired global impairment of intellect, reason, and personality. It doubles in frequency every five years after age 65, meaning twice as many people are demented at 70 than at 65. Alzheimer's disease causes 50% of dementias, with vascular disorders contributing another 20%.

While numerous studies reference the ability of Ginkgo biloba extract to improve circulation to the brain, research also shows that Ginkgo biloba extract can directly enhance cognitive activity. Two studies with healthy volunteers used electroencephalograph measures throughout the brain to quantify the effects of Ginkgo biloba extract on brain activity. Single applications of 40 mg, 120 mg, and 240 mg were given. The lowest dose had no effect. At the higher doses, Ginkgo biloba extract increased alpha-wave activity on par with drugs that improve cognitive function, such as tacrine hydrochloride. Onset of action was rapid (30 minutes), with a peak effect at two to three hours, and continued action over the five-day treatment period. The authors of both studies concluded that Ginkgo biloba extract has a "cognitive-activating profile," meaning it increases brain activity associated with alertness.

What's exciting about these results is that they confirm what many researchers have long suspected—that Ginkgo biloba extract can slow age-related cognitive decline and should help people with early-stage dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

Reference: Luthringer, R., d'Arbingy, P., et al. In Christen, Y., Courtis, Y., et al., eds. Effects of Ginkgo biloba Extract (Egb 761) on Aging and Age-Related Disorders: 107-18, 1995.

Linus Pauling, Ph.D., and Dr. Ewan Cameron launched the debate over vitamin C and cancer in 1976 with the publication of a study in which they concluded that end-stage cancer patients given 10 grams of vitamin C daily had an improved survival rate.

The methodology of Dr. Pauling's study was heavily criticized, saying that little substantive research demonstrates any effectiveness for treating cancer.

In their book Cancer and Vitamin C, Drs. Pauling and Cameron responded: "Vitamin C is not a miraculous cure for cancer . . . but it improves the condition of the patient to such an extent that his life during his remaining months or years is comfortable, contented, useful, productive, and satisfying." The two doctors reported that, in their patients, better appetite and eating, less nausea, and, in general, a sense of "feeling better, stronger, and more alert" was achieved following doses of the vitamin.

Other investigators have found that the administration of vitamin C during radiation resulted in less anemia, pain, and loss of appetite and weight.

Currently, many alternative practitioners employ vitamin C against cancer and its side effects. Robert Atkins, M.D., who maintains a private practice in nutrition and internal and complementary medicine in New York City, calls vitamin C, along with beta-carotene, one of the two most commonly used antioxidants. He recommends a daily dose up to 10 grams.

Reference: Cameron, E., Pauling, L., Cancer and Vitamin C: A Discussion of the Nature, Causes, Prevention and Treatment of Cancer, with Special Reference to the Value of Vitamin C, 1979.

If Americans regularly took just three vitamins, they could reduce hospital costs by nearly $20 billion, according to a new study. Daily vitamin E supplementation by people over 50 and daily use of folic acid and zinc supplements by women of childbearing age could reduce, respectively, the incidence of heart disease, birth defects, and low-weight births in a very short time, say researchers in the Western Journal of Medicine.

The study, conducted by Adrienne Bendich, Ph.D., and Shelah Leader, Ph.D., found that daily vitamin E intake of 100 IU taken during a two-year period could help reduce overall mortality from heart disease and the incidence of non-fatal myocardial infarction, thus reducing hospital and Medicare costs.

The study also examined the cost of some preventable birth defects and premature births. It is known that daily folic acid supplements of 400 mcg taken by women of childbearing age help prevent neural-tube defects and cardiovascular birth defects.

A lesser-known birth defect prevention supplement is zinc. Daily use of a multivitamin that contains 15 to 20 mg of zinc could potentially prevent between 6.7% and 58.8% of all low-weight births. Such premature deliveries cost approximately $2.6 billion in 1995 in the U.S.

Researchers concluded from all the cases they examined that micronutrients associated with improved health are not present in the average American diet—only improved diets and regular use of supplements will decrease disease risk.

Reference: Western Journal of Medicine, May 1997.

Creatine is an "ergogenic" aid. It increases intracellular levels of creatine phosphate, a high-energy compound. Creatine phosphate serves as a kind of reservoir for high-energy phosphate bonds that can be used to make ATP—the body's main energy-storage molecule. ATP provides the energy for most metabolic reactions and is the body's main energy source during exercise.

Several studies suggest that creatine appears to improve anaerobic capacity. In one double-blind study, knee strength was tested on an exercise machine. Subjects were asked to exercise both before and after five days of taking either creatine or a placebo. Those taking creatine significantly improved their peak level of knee extensor torque. The placebo had no effect.

In another study, subjects were asked to complete 10 six-second cycles of high intensity work on a cycle ergometer. People who had taken creatine maintained maximum exercise intensity during the entire period. Subjects taking the placebo could not.

A third study asked subjects to perform one repetition of maximum lifting on a free-weight bench test. After 28 days of creatine supplementation, people taking creatine increased their average weight lift by 6%, while it declined by 2% for people taking the placebo.

While most creatine studies have been done on healthy athletes, one double-blind trial showed increased muscle strength in people who had congestive heart failure. In another double-blind study, creatine supplementation significantly increased one- and two-leg extensor muscle strength by 21% and 10% respectively. Subjects in the control group showed no change. Although creatine's ability to improve short-term, high-intensity exercise performance is reasonably well documented, there is no evidence it affects endurance.

Reference: Toler, S. "Creatine is an ergogen for anaerobic exercise." Nutrition Reviews, 55: 22-5, 1997.

Scientists have known for nearly sixty years that zinc is an essential nutrient. Without it, children's growth slows and adults' cognition falters. Researchers recently gave the mineral's effect on children a closer look.

They rounded up 372 children, six to nine years old, from elementary schools in three districts and divided them into treatment groups. Group one received 20 mg zinc per day; group two, 20 mg zinc with a multivitamin; group three, the multivitamin alone. Teachers dispensed the vitamins six days per week for ten weeks.

Researchers collected blood and hair samples (to measure changes in zinc concentrations) both before and after supplementation, assessed growth (based on the change in length of the lower leg), and conducted neuropsychological tests. The tests measured fine and gross motor skills, eye-hand coordination, attention span, visual perception, memory, concept formation, and abstract reasoning.

Growth increased significantly in the children taking a multivitamin, but results were most dramatic in children who received both zinc and multivitamins. Zinc given alone produced the smallest effect. The researchers concluded that the children were probably deficient in several nutrients needed for growth.

These findings confirm the necessity of zinc for children's growth and show, for the first time, that zinc is important for their proper neuropsychological function as well.

Reference: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 65:1803-9, June 1997.

Health Tip

RDAs are determined by the Food and Nutrition Board, a division of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The IOM report, Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D and Fluoride, issued August 13, 1997, is the first in a series that will revise current RDAs for all nutrients. It boosted recommended intake levels of calcium almost across the board by up to 50%—from 800 mg per day to 1200 mg per day for most adults. Levels of vitamin D and magnesium were also increased.

The report did not offer specific means for achieving the daily reference intake level of 1200 mg of calcium, but did suggest methods such as eating more calcium-rich foods and dietary supplementation.

Reference: Nutrition Science News, Vol. 2, No. 10, October 1997.