Folic acid and B vitamins fail to avert cancers in women

Washington, November 5: Discounting the long held belief, a daily dose of folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and other supplements do not help prevent cancers in women, a new American research suggests. However, fortunately, they don’t increase the susceptibility to cancers either.

For the study, the researchers at the Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School zeroed in on 5,442 women who had participated in the Women's Antioxidant and Folic Acid Cardiovascular Study earlier.

Averaging 63 years, all women were either diagnosed for cardiovascular disease or had nearly a three times heightened risk of developing the disease.

During the 7 year study (April 1998 through July 2005), participants were randomly put on either a supplement pill containing 2.5mg of folic acid, 50mg of vitamin B6 and 1mg of vitamin B12, or a placebo pill.

Follow-up analysis revealed 379 invasive cancerdefine cases. While 187 in the active supplement group developed cancer, primarily breast cancer, 192 in the placebo group did so.

"This study shows that supplementation with the combined B vitamins provided no beneficial effect and no harmful effect. So in terms of cancer risk, this may not be an effective approach," Zhang noted.

A similar study reported in the October issue of the same journal found that vitamin supplements and folic acid failed to slow cognitive decline in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

However, researchers did notice one intriguing trend. In the active supplement group, women aging above the average age were 38 percent less likely to develop breast malignancy and 25 percent less likely to develop any other type of tumor. But researchers highlighted the need to interpret these results with caution. "It's something that needs further study," lead author of the study, Dr. Shumin Zhang averred.

Despite the findings, researchers recommend eating a healthy diet rich in folic acid and other B vitamins (primarily found in green leafy vegetables and fortified cereals) or through daily supplements.

"There are really good reasons for women to take folic acid, especially if they're planning on having a baby, because there's really conclusive evidence that it can reduce birth defects. But, for the average woman in terms of cancer risk, folic acid and B vitamins don't seem to increase or reduce risk," Zhang averred.

The findings of the study feature in today's issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.