October 10, 2011

expert reaction to study of dietary supplements and mortality in older women

A new study looked at the potential long-term health consequences of dietary supplements in older women.

Dr Glenys Jones, Nutritionist, Department of Diet & Population Health, MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge, said:

“This observational study is interesting, but it does not show that supplement use causes women to die earlier. The study does not take into account whether the women using the supplements are doing so in response to illness, for example using iron supplements in response to anaemia (which is estimated to affect around 10-20% of women in this age group). Whereby it is most likely the illness that is the cause of the women dying, not the supplement use. Research in this area to date has had inconsistent findings, and what is needed to determine whether supplement use actually causes an alteration of mortality rate is a number of well controlled intervention studies that can then be brought together and reviewed.”

‘Dietary Supplements and Mortality Rate in Older Women: The Iowa Women’s Health Study’ by Jaakko Mursu et al., published in Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday 10th October 2011.