Vitamin Information Center

Cancer
Synonyms
Malignant tumors; Neoplasms
Definition
Cancer is the general term for more than 100 different
distinct diseases that can affect every part of the
body. Cancer is defined by a rapid abnormal cell growth
beyond usual boundaries that can affect adjoining parts
of the body including other organs. This process is
referred to as metastasis which is the major cause of
death from cancer. Cancer is caused by changes in the
genes responsible for cell growth and repair, driven by
interaction between genetic host factors and external
agents. These external agents can be categorized into
physical carcinogens, chemical carcinogens and biological
carcinogens. Prevention strategies play a vital role
in reducing the burden of cancer as up to one third of all
cases could be avoided by: changing tobacco and alcohol
use, adjusting dietary and physical activity patterns
or reducing exposure to sunlight, etc. Early detection
and treatment of cancer is another key element in reducing
the burden of cancer as it significantly improves the
prognosis. When cancer is treated, the main objectives
are curing, prolonging life and improving the quality
of life of the patients affected. The common treatment
methods are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy

Bayesian Network
Definition
A probabilistic graphic model to generate hypothesis
using joint probability distributions. This method is
used in gene expression to group similar genes together
for gene expression analysis ( serial analysis of gene
expression

VIVIENNE PARRY

“VITAMINS may shorten your life” was the most unexpected headline of the week. It arose after the publication of a review of 67 studies involving nearly a quarter of a million people taking antioxidant vitamin supplements (such as A, E and C). Far from showing benefit, it indicated that some, such as vitamin A, seemed to increase mortality.

This is a long way from other stories that suggest the benefits of supplements. Confusing, isn’t it? The problem is that studying the real effect of vitamins is incredibly hard. Focusing on one nutrient in isolation has proved to be a fine way to explain specific symptoms of one disease, such as those typically caused by vitamin deficiency - vitamin C and scurvy, for instance. But it’s not that useful when trying to assess the impact of vitamins on chronic conditions or even on death rates.

This is partly because the way that supplements affect our health can be influenced by many factors, significantly our diet. Drinking tea, for example, can inhibit the uptake of iron from food. Other influences are genes, physical fitness, existing disease, income levels, whether we smoke or drink . . .

And when researchers try to keep track of all these variables, and what foods and supplements we take, there’s another problem: we’re very unreliable witnesses. We either get muddled about what we have or haven’t eaten, or we simply lie when confronted with a nice dietitian with a clipboard.

There’s yet another problem. Costly trials involving enormous numbers of people over long periods of time are required to demonstrate the long-term effect of vitamins. People’s diets and habits can change considerably over these periods, making the results less reliable.

Meanwhile, the waters are muddied by the booming supplements business, which is worth £330million a year in the UK alone, the financial health of which is dependent on persuading us that our health is in jeopardy without its wares. Ironically, those most likely to be seduced by the marketing hype are those with the least need for supplements: health- conscious middle-class types.

So what does this latest review mean for us? It certainly doesn’t mean that those of us taking multivitamins are going to suffer an early death - they were not covered in the review. For those of us who take supplements of individual antioxidants, the picture is still far from clear. What we can say is that if there are benefits in taking single antioxidant supplements, they are very small indeed.

Stopping them is unlikely to affect your health adversely and will have a positive effect on your bank balance.

Until now the debate over hair loss vitamin deficiency has been raging. One side says that hair loss is not due to a lack of vitamins in the body. The other side says that losing your hair due to nutrient deficiency is very real. What is the truth about hair loss vitamin deficiency?
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Being bald is not something people welcome. Unfortunately, the hair loss condition is very much a reality for most people today. The good thing about it, though, is that anyone can do something in preventing hair loss.
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It is bad enough on some days to just have a bad hair day, but even worse for some is to have baldness or thinning hair due to hair loss. For many, it seems as if the battle against hair loss is lost, and although we have done everything we can think of to prevent it, baldness/thinning hair is inevitable. For those who feel like they are on track to becoming bald, or fighting hair loss.
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