Cancer – screening risks.. vitamins help

Today’s report from the Independent Breast Cancer Screening Review criticizes NHS advice regarding mammograms for not spelling out the significant risks. After looking at 10 trials involving almost 600,000 women, they estimated the NHS programme saves 1,300 lives a year. However, they also calculated it resulted in another 4,000 receiving treatment for early-stage cancers that would never spread and cause them a problem, let alone kill them. I discussed the subject of breast and prostate cancer screening, and alternative treatment, in my last newsletter. A substantial study of almost 15,000 male doctors given either a multivitamin or placebo finds a significant 8 per cent decreased risk of developing cancer after an average of 11 years follow up.

The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. According to Prof Balz Frei from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University “Given that more than 1.6 million new cancer cases are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, this translates into about 130,000 cancers prevented every year, and with it all the health care costs and human suffering. Quite simply, at around a penny a day a multivitamin is the cheapest health insurance a person will ever buy.” There are other specific nutrients, in higher amounts, that also reduce risk for cancer, including seleniumWhat it does: Antioxidant properties help to protect against free radicals and carcinogens, reduces inflammation, stimulates immune system to fight infections, promotes a healthy heart,… and vitamin CWhat it does: Strengthens immune system – fights infections. Makes collagen, keeping bones, skin and joints firm and strong. Antioxidant, detoxifying pollutants and protecting against…. I’ll be outlining a plan for reducing risk in my Total Health Transformation workshop is London this weekend, and also in Dubai, Beijing and Shanghai next month (see events for more details). My book Say No to Cancer also gives clear guidelines on how to reduce your risk.