The message provides great insight regarding what appears to be confusing information concerning the use of supplements and things you should consider when coming across new information.

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“To Supplement or Not to Supplement by Dr. Stephen Chaney, Ph.D. (Bochemistry)”

I came across an article a few weeks ago showing that supplementation with 800 mg of folic acid reduced hearing loss in a group of older men and women.

Some of you may recall hearing about a study several months ago suggesting that intakes of 400 mg of folic acid (the recommended Daily Value) or more was associated with a slight increase in the risk of colon cancer. In fact, some experts were recommending that if you were over 50 you should take a multivitamin only every other day.

About a month after that there were a couple of studies showing that in adults over 50 supplementation with 600 to 800 mg of folic acid significantly decreased the risk of dementia.

Are you confused yet?

The problem is that many people don’t understand the difference between “relative risk” and “absolute risk”. Perhaps the best way to help you understand the difference is to give you an example.

I read another paper the other day arguing that colonoscopies were a waste of medical resources. You might say: “That’s absurd. Colonoscopies have been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer by 60%. Why wouldn’t you want to recommend that everyone over 50 get a colonoscopy on a regular basis?”

Yes, but that’s a relative reduction in risk. Your absolute risk of developing colon cancer over your lifetime is only around 6%. If you reduce that by 60% you have achieved only a 2.4% absolute reduction in the risk of developing colon cancer.

Now that you understand the difference between relative and absolute risk I should tell you that the Framingham study has shown that your lifetime risk of developing dementia is around 20%. Similarly, your lifetime risk of developing severe hearing loss is around 33%. (That might be an underestimate, however, because those statistics predated rock bands and iPods).

When you look the same data from the viewpoint of absolute risk it helps you sort out all that conflicting information.

When you look at absolute risk the benefits of folic acid supplementation far outweigh the potential risks for most people.

Of course, if you have a family history of one of these diseases that dramatically changes the equation.

In my case, I have a family history of colon cancer, so I will continue to endure the colonoscopies at the recommended intervals (At least until a better diagnostic procedure comes along).

However, I also use a holistic supplementation program, and I think that the benefits of folic acid as part of that program far outweigh any risks.

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I guess this post  examining supplementation issues is definitely defined as a green remedy of nature   ….

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