Your Last Warning - Consume Folic Acid at your own risk.

[El_Machinae]

So now that vaccine poisoning has been debunked, people have moved onto other conspiracies. I'd like to find a legitimate medical journal, and not a half-baked rag, present a clinical trial with evidence showing that folic acid increases cancer. (Which cancer, btw?) I have not heard of any, nor would any make sense. Folic acid is a vitamin, essential for replication of nucleic acids, whose deficiency would cause anemia, among other things. Relative deficiency of folic acid in pregnant women has been found to cause neural tube defects in neonates, which is why it is recommended as a supplement.

Offspring of Female Rats Given Folic Acid Supplements Develop More Breast Cancer, Study Suggests

The original study is in Cancer Research (impact factor 7.5)

Like I said, the folate/cancer story is an interesting one.

Alternatively
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20937919
found no detectable effect on cancer rates after 5 years.

The source of a chemical has no bearing on its properties, when it is the same substance.

Of course it would, because of synergistic effects. We've seen disappointing results from Omega-3s, antioxidants, B-carotene, etc. when they're given as specifically as supplements.

 

[Brian Shanahan]

Well I don't find your view of the opposing side very objective either , but I must agree that the importance of the scientific method - as justified as this importance is - seems to blind some people. It seems like some have a stereo-typed believer of alternative medicine in front of them and all they want to is tell this fictive person how stupid he/she is - rather than being interested in discussion.

That's just boring.

Well all this stems from me stating the fact that alternatives are nearly always unwilling to participate in proper scientific study, and until they do we should oppose them at every opportunity.

There is nothing blind, capricious or malicious in taking that point of view. I am just holding up alternative medicines to the same standards as I would all others. It is those who do not follow this scepticism (and being sceptical is a good thing, it leaves you open to make judgements when needed, but willing to accept results when presented) who are blind, in that they cannot see the downsides to actions taken without proper precautions.

So Sill I ask you, do you believe that "alternative" medicines should be tested to the full rigour that you would expect of the more "conventional" medicines? That is the sum and the whole of what I am arguing.

 

[lutzj]

Guys I just ate some folic acid and nothing happened.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Well all this stems from me stating the fact that alternatives are nearly always unwilling to participate in proper scientific study, and until they do we should oppose them at every opportunity.

But you have yet not told me where you derive this fact from.

So Sill I ask you, do you believe that "alternative" medicines should be tested to the full rigour that you would expect of the more "conventional" medicines? That is the sum and the whole of what I am arguing.

Yes I do.

Guys I just ate some folic acid and nothing happened.

 

[Brian Shanahan]

Sill somebody linked to Ben Goldacre's blog up-thread, I would suggest looking at that for it documents at length, the kind of actions that the snake-oil salesmen to conceal their lack of validity.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

It is to be expected that an unregulated market which aims at subtle and long-term but still most desirable effects is heavily abused. Alternative medicine is perfect for abuse. I just think - with some stuff in mind I read about serious approaches coming from the wide field of alternative medicine - that the vast complexity and the still so limited understanding of the human organism justifies it to stay open-minded for those willing to have their stuff tested but who do not originate in classic medicine. Maybe I have too much faith, maybe not. But what's the harm done? People who let themselves be fooled won't stop because it is damned by others. I think to just damn the whole thing is rather likely to cause the reverse.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

That's just boring.

Seriously, the door on vitamin science is, IMO, long since closed. And even if there were discoveries to be made, I suspect the only thing revealed would be another nutritional deficiency. You are not going to find a purpose for a nutritional substance anything other than nutrition.

Offspring of Female Rats Given Folic Acid Supplements Develop More Breast Cancer, Study Suggests

The original study is in Cancer Research (impact factor 7.5)

Like I said, the folate/cancer story is an interesting one.

Alternatively
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20937919
found no detectable effect on cancer rates after 5 years.

Ahhh, the old homocysteine craze that was in fashion a few years ago! I remember chuckling under my breath whenever some cardiologist would bring it up. Looks like another strike for trying to give vitamins a role more than what they are.

Of course it would, because of synergistic effects. We've seen disappointing results from Omega-3s, antioxidants, B-carotene, etc. when they're given as specifically as supplements.

That's like saying that atmospheric oxygen is not the same as oxygen produced through hydrolysis, because it comes from two different sources.

 

[El_Machinae]

It's more like saying that getting your air from walking in the forest is better for you than getting your air from a medical gas tank.

I liked the HS story . It's worth looking at blood biomarkers that can be modified with diet, because if we find some worth acting upon, we'll save a lot of lives.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

I liked the HS story . It's worth looking at blood biomarkers that can be modified with diet, because if we find some worth acting upon, we'll save a lot of lives.

There are a couple of nutritional supplements that have found some substantiation in critical illness. One is glutamine supplementation, which is supposed to reduced the risk of intestinal atrophy and perhaps infection. The other is a special feed composed of eicosanoid precursors and nucleotides, which may reduce the burden of inflammation in sepsis. But these are very esoteric applications and their conclusions are very tenuous. Even if effective, they are only modestly so.