MEDIA RELEASE
Complementary
Healthcare Council of Australia
LEADING EXPERTS REJECT FINDINGS OF INTERNATIONAL REPORT: METHODOLOGY
FLAWED AND CONCLUSIONS COMPROMISED
Leading academics and experts, nationally and internationally, have
rejected the findings of an American study that suggests antioxidant
supplements lead to early death. They have done so because the
methodology used was flawed and the conclusions compromised as a
result.
The
paper*, published in the February edition of the Journal of
American Medicine Association (JAMA), has received wide media
coverage and could lead consumers to falsely believe that their health
is at risk from taking vitamins and antioxidants.
Dr
Tony Lewis, Executive Director of the Complementary Healthcare Council
of Australia (CHC), and Professor
Stephen Myers,
head of Southern Cross University’s Natural Medicine Research Unit,
say the study is not ‘good science’ and cannot be applied to Australia
for several reasons:
1.
it
combined studies that were too diverse to be accurately analysed. The
meta-analysis, for example, pooled studies that tested people with
high risk illnesses (such as cancer and heart disease) and people with
compromised health (smokers) with people who were healthy. It also
pooled supplements of different composition administered at different
doses and over different time frames;
2.
it
used high doses of antioxidants over long periods - some levels were
far in excess of those allowed in Australia; (South Africa’s levels are similar)
3.
it
used antioxidants to determine their impact on people with serious
illnesses. In Australia, antioxidants on general sale are not
permitted to be used to reverse or treat such illnesses but rather to
sensibly maintain good health and treat non-serious health conditions.
International experts have
also criticised many aspects of the study. Meir Stampfer, a professor
of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health
who was not connected to the meta-analysis, told AP:
"This study
does not advance our understanding, and could easily lead to
misinterpretation of the data." Other experts are just as concerned
about the way the study was conducted and the impact of its
conclusions (see summary of viewpoints attached to this media
release).
“The
JAMA paper and resulting media reporting has confused many consumers,”
says Dr Lewis. “Consumers in Australia should not be concerned when
taking their daily multivitamin supplement. In this country
antioxidant supplements are regulated better than anywhere else in the
world. Our regulatory controls take into account safe dosage levels
for all the substances used in complementary medicines. We have
long-established expert committees that set appropriate intake levels
to ensure consumer safety is protected at all times.”
Professor Myers says “Australia is leading the world in setting
appropriate pharmaceutical manufacturing standards for complementary
medicines. It has been acknowledged by Government that the Australian
community can have full confidence in the industry and these
medicines.”
Media contact:
Dr
Tony Lewis, CHC, 0407 072 151
*Bjelakovic
et al and titled Mortality in Randomized Trials of Antioxidant
Supplements for Primary and Secondary Prevention
March
2008
