Increased intake of the antioxidant vitamins C and E could cut the risk of kidney cancer by 28 and 44 per cent, respectively

Article by Don Goldberg

Increased intake of the antioxidant vitamins C and E could cut the risk of kidney cancer by 28 and 44 per cent, respectively, says a new study from Italy.

First, comments on this study, as reported on The Willner Window Radio Program, on WOR radio (710 AM, Sunday afternoon from 2 to 4 pm), February 28^th, 2007.

Sam: Good afternoon everyone, this is .... Welcome to The Willner Window. For those of you who might be first-time listeners, the focus of this show is nutritional supplements–vitamins, herbs, homeopathic remedies–and their proper usage. With me this afternoon is . .

Don: Sometimes we start off the program with information on a particular nutrient in the news, maybe in response to a recently published study. Sometimes we focus on a particular health problem, and talk about those vitamins and minerals that might be helpful to people with that health problem

At other times, we try to make a more broad point, and show the value of nutritional supplements in a general sense. In other words, we try to point out the need for everyone--regardless of your health status, regardless of your age, etc–to take a basic regimen of nutritional supplements.

There are many ways to make that point. We could talk about the prevalence of various vitamin deficiencies, for example, based on surveys. We could talk about the vital roles these nutrients play in the normal function, growth and metabolism of the body.

Sam: But there is another way we can make the point. We can tell you about the remarkable role individual vitamins play in the prevention of serious, life-threatening disease. And then ask you to stop for a moment, and consider what you have just heard. If this particular vitamin reduces the risk of that disease, and another particular vitamin reduces the risk of this disease, doesn't it stand to reason that insuring optimal intake of the whole gamut of these vitamins and minerals is a good bet to reduce the risk of disease, or health problems, in general?

Don: What we are trying to say is that you should try to see both the forest and the trees. We are going to tell you about a study dealing with kidney cancer. And my point is that this study does not affect only those of you who have reason to worry about kidney cancer–it has meaning and significance to everyone.

Dr. Podell: OK, we are talking about a study published in the International Journal of Cancer. It looked at 767 renal cell cancer patients and 1534 controls. They had these people fill out detailed food frequency questionnaires, from which micronutrient intakes were calculated. This study took place in Europe, by the way.

Here is what they found: Increased intake of the antioxidant vitamins C and E appeared to cut the risk of kidney cancer by 28 and 44 per cent, respectively!

That bears repeating. In the words of the lead author of the article, I quote: "In the present study, based on a large dataset and with extensive information on major sources of vitamins and micronutrients in the Italian population, an inverse relation was observed between vitamin E and vitamin C intake and RCC risk."

Sam: Amazing, isn't it. Higher intake of a couple of vitamins may reduce the risk of renal cell cancer.

What's also amazing is that this is not an isolated case. We have seen a steady stream of studies like this, with B Vitamins shown to reduce heart d