Low-Dose Antioxidants May Lower All-Cause Mortality in Men

Low-dose antioxidant vitamin and mineral supplementation lowers all-cause mortality in men but not in women.

"It has been suggested that a low dietary intake of antioxidant vitamins and minerals increases the incidence rate of cardiovascular disease [CVD] and cancer," write Serge Hercberg, MD, PhD, from Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) in Metiers, France, and colleagues. "To date, however, the published results of randomized, placebo-controlled trials of supplements containing antioxidant nutrients have not provided clear evidence of a beneficial effect."

In the Supplémentation enVitamines et Minéraux Antioxydants (SU.VI.MAX) study, 13,017 French adults were randomized to receive a single daily capsule containing 120 mg of ascorbic acid, 30 mg of vitamin E, 6 mg of beta carotene, 100 µg of selenium, and 20 mg of zinc, or a placebo. The study population consisted of 7,876 women aged 35 to 60 years, and 5,141 men aged 45 to 60 years. Median follow-up time was 7.5 years.

Both groups had similar total cancer incidence (267 [4.1%] for the supplement group vs 295 [4.5%] for the placebo group), ischemic CVD incidence (134 [2.1%] vs 137 [2.1%]), and all-cause mortality (76 [1.2%] vs 98 [1.5%]). However, there was a significant interaction between sex and group effects on cancer incidence (P = .004), with a protective effect of antioxidants in men (relative risk [RR], 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53-0.91) but not in women (RR,1.04; 95% CI, 0.85-1.29). There was a similar trend for all-cause mortality (RR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.42-0.93 in men vs RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.64-1.63 in women; P = .11 for interaction).

"After 7.5 years, low-dose antioxidant supplementation lowered total cancer incidence and all-cause mortality in men but not in women," the authors write. "Supplementation may be effective in men only because of their lower baseline status of certain antioxidants, especially of beta-carotene."

"Our results suggest that an adequate and well-balanced supplementation of antioxidant nutrients, at doses that might be reached with a healthy diet that includes a high consumption of fruits and vegetables, had protective effects against cancer in men," the authors conclude. "

Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:2335-2342

================================

DID YOU KNOW: Fasting BG of 110mg/dl increases mortality: The relationships among 2-hour plasma glucose (PG), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and all-cause mortality were recently evaluated in a group of 1,236 men, who were followed up for an average of 13.4 years. The authors found that risk of mortality did not increase until FPG exceeded 6.1 mmol/L, and it doubled when FPG ranged from 7.0 to 7.7 mmol/L. According to the authors, their data support the decision to lower the FPG diagnostic for diabetes from 7.8 to 7.0 mmol/L. The use of oral glucose tolerance tests seems to be better than FPG alone, because a combination of 2-hour PG and FPG gave a better estimation of mortality risk than FPG alone. Diabetes Care,28 (2626-2632): Sorkin J, Muller D, Fleg J, Andres R The relation of fasting and 2-h postchallenge plasma glucose concentrations to mortality: data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging with a critical review of the literature