While reading the current Skeptic magazine I came across a reference to this paper by James Watson:

http://rsob.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/1/120144.full#sec-22

A part of it, as a teaser:

22. Free-radical-destroying antioxidative nutritional supplements may have caused more cancers than they have prevented

For as long as I have been focused on the understanding and curing of cancer (I taught a course on Cancer at Harvard in the autumn of 1959), well-intentioned individuals have been consuming antioxidative nutritional supplements as cancer preventatives if not actual therapies. The past, most prominent scientific proponent of their value was the great Caltech chemist, Linus Pauling, who near the end of his illustrious career wrote a book with Ewan Cameron in 1979, Cancer and Vitamin C, about vitamin C’s great potential as an anti-cancer agent . At the time of his death from prostate cancer in 1994, at the age of 93, Linus was taking 12 g of vitamin C every day. In light of the recent data strongly hinting that much of late-stage cancer’s untreatability may arise from its possession of too many antioxidants, the time has come to seriously ask whether antioxidant use much more likely causes than prevents cancer.

It is quite a long and involved paper, but should be interesting. So far I have just skimmed it quickly. It seems to give the latest state of knowledge.

Interesting buffy, ta.

> “may have caused”

is a synonym of “haven’t a clue”. Reporters should know better than to waste space on ignorance.

may have is pretty standard in scientific papers. I’m pretty sure that is not a reporter, but a peer reviewed paper. It’s the Royal Society.

mollwollfumble said:

> “may have caused”

is a synonym of “haven’t a clue”. Reporters should know better than to waste space on ignorance.

You really should read the link…

the thing with vit c is that it helps strengthen blood vessels, good if theres not much wrong with you – bad if you’ve got a tumour out of control and growing new blood vessels every 5 minutes..

i’d say it might prevent cancer but once its taken hold you’d need some other method

wookiemeister said:

the thing with vit c is that it helps strengthen blood vessels, good if theres not much wrong with you – bad if you’ve got a tumour out of control and growing new blood vessels every 5 minutes..

i’d say it might prevent cancer but once its taken hold you’d need some other method

No.

you’re so polite poik.

poikilotherm said:

wookiemeister said:

the thing with vit c is that it helps strengthen blood vessels, good if theres not much wrong with you – bad if you’ve got a tumour out of control and growing new blood vessels every 5 minutes..

i’d say it might prevent cancer but once its taken hold you’d need some other method

No.

Ditto.

poikilotherm said:

wookiemeister said:

the thing with vit c is that it helps strengthen blood vessels, good if theres not much wrong with you – bad if you’ve got a tumour out of control and growing new blood vessels every 5 minutes..

i’d say it might prevent cancer but once its taken hold you’d need some other method

No.

What vitamin strengthens weak blood vessels? Vitamin C.
https://www.google.com.au/#q=vit+c+strengthen+blood+vessels

Boris said:

you’re so polite poik.

Boris said:

you’re so polite poik.

i’m polite too

not so long ago one of the doctors here thought that carotene turned your piss yellow

its riboflavin

i’m polite until someone gets nasty then I hammer them with horrible facts

wookiemeister said:

poikilotherm said:

wookiemeister said:

the thing with vit c is that it helps strengthen blood vessels, good if theres not much wrong with you – bad if you’ve got a tumour out of control and growing new blood vessels every 5 minutes..

i’d say it might prevent cancer but once its taken hold you’d need some other method

No.

What vitamin strengthens weak blood vessels? Vitamin C.
https://www.google.com.au/#q=vit+c+doesn’t+strengthen+blood+vessels

IKR

poikilotherm said:

wookiemeister said:

poikilotherm said:

No.

What vitamin strengthens weak blood vessels? Vitamin C.
https://www.google.com.au/#q=vit+c+doesn’t+strengthen+blood+vessels

IKR

i’m sorry its well known that vit c helps strengthen blood vessels i’m bothering to debate this one go and google it yourself

what pauling says is interesting – he suggested that its possible for people to suffer from a chronic shortage of vit c leading to many disorders involving blood vessels and the heart

if you can bag yourself nobel prize twice then let me know

>>what pauling says is interesting – he suggested that its possible for people to suffer from a chronic shortage of vit c leading to many disorders involving blood vessels and the heart<<

That be known as scurvy….

buffy said:

>>what pauling says is interesting – he suggested that its possible for people to suffer from a chronic shortage of vit c leading to many disorders involving blood vessels and the heart<<

That be known as scurvy….

yes I’ve mentioned it here before extensively

it struck without warning on ships

a lack of vit c causes depression by the way

theres been some study recently that puts forward the notion that depression can be exacerbated by lack of a vit B but the whole notion of vitamins here is poo pooed. I don’t really waste my time any more trying to explain unless things are really desperate.

wookiemeister said:

buffy said:

>>what pauling says is interesting – he suggested that its possible for people to suffer from a chronic shortage of vit c leading to many disorders involving blood vessels and the heart<<

That be known as scurvy….

yes I’ve mentioned it here before extensively

it struck without warning on ships

a lack of vit c causes depression by the way

theres been some study recently that puts forward the notion that depression can be exacerbated by lack of a vit B but the whole notion of vitamins here is poo pooed. I don’t really waste my time any more trying to explain unless things are really desperate.

O RLY