American report draws unhealthy conclusions on antioxidant supplements. - March 2007
The study on the effectiveness of antioxidant supplements, released yesterday, draws conclusions that do not apply to Australia and is at risk of causing confusion among consumers.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the study is based on research conducted in countries where vitamins and minerals are not regulated in the same way as they are in Australia, says Dr.Tony Lewis, the Executive Director of the Complementary Healthcare Council of Australia (CHC), the national peak body for the industry.
“Australia has the most rigorous process in the world for regulating vitamins and minerals for the safety of consumers,” says Dr Lewis. “Many of the trials used in the JAMA study permitted much higher dosages than are allowed in Australia and they do not, as a result, relate here. We don’t agree with their conclusions, especially on mortality rates. Dozens of recent studies conducted in this country point to the positive benefits of antioxidants as low-risk supplements.”
The levels of Vitamins A, C and E, and Betacarotene and Selenium used reported on in the JAMA study are all cases in point—many are far above the levels permitted in Australia.
“We’ve looked at all the trials referenced in the study,” says Dr. Lewis. “When you remove the ones that permit higher dosages and disregard small trials with less than 500 participants you are left with only a few that can be applied in Australia. Some of these draw positive conclusions about the effectiveness of the products while the others are neutral.”
“The CHC is also concerned about the size of the studies and the segment of the population that participated in the clinical trials,” says Dr. Lewis. “As far as we are concerned, the samples are too small to assess mortality and many of the subjects were already in a high risk segment of the population which clearly affects results.”
“We often see overseas reports that on first glance sound alarmist,” says Dr Lewis. “However, the devil is in the detail and careful analysis regularly proves that many such reports simply aren’t relevant to Australia. The differences between the strict regulations in this country and other countries need to be appreciated.”
“As with all formal studies in this industry, we will review this one in-depth on behalf of our consumers, but our initial review clearly concludes there is no need to be concerned or alarmed. Consumers are well protected by the systems in place,” says Dr Lewis. “Safety continues to be a primary focus.”
Media contact:
Dr Tony Lewis, 0407 07 21 51
Wendy Johnson, 0414296857
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the study is based on research conducted in countries where vitamins and minerals are not regulated in the same way as they are in Australia, says Dr.Tony Lewis, the Executive Director of the Complementary Healthcare Council of Australia (CHC), the national peak body for the industry.
“Australia has the most rigorous process in the world for regulating vitamins and minerals for the safety of consumers,” says Dr Lewis. “Many of the trials used in the JAMA study permitted much higher dosages than are allowed in Australia and they do not, as a result, relate here. We don’t agree with their conclusions, especially on mortality rates. Dozens of recent studies conducted in this country point to the positive benefits of antioxidants as low-risk supplements.”
The levels of Vitamins A, C and E, and Betacarotene and Selenium used reported on in the JAMA study are all cases in point—many are far above the levels permitted in Australia.
“We’ve looked at all the trials referenced in the study,” says Dr. Lewis. “When you remove the ones that permit higher dosages and disregard small trials with less than 500 participants you are left with only a few that can be applied in Australia. Some of these draw positive conclusions about the effectiveness of the products while the others are neutral.”
“The CHC is also concerned about the size of the studies and the segment of the population that participated in the clinical trials,” says Dr. Lewis. “As far as we are concerned, the samples are too small to assess mortality and many of the subjects were already in a high risk segment of the population which clearly affects results.”
“We often see overseas reports that on first glance sound alarmist,” says Dr Lewis. “However, the devil is in the detail and careful analysis regularly proves that many such reports simply aren’t relevant to Australia. The differences between the strict regulations in this country and other countries need to be appreciated.”
“As with all formal studies in this industry, we will review this one in-depth on behalf of our consumers, but our initial review clearly concludes there is no need to be concerned or alarmed. Consumers are well protected by the systems in place,” says Dr Lewis. “Safety continues to be a primary focus.”
Media contact:
Dr Tony Lewis, 0407 07 21 51
Wendy Johnson, 0414296857
posted by Lizette at 7:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home