Re: high dose folate & breast cancer

From: zwalanga (zwalanga_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 12/12/04 

Date: 12 Dec 2004 14:22:13 -0800

David Rind wrote:
> zwalanga wrote:
> > Yes. Mildly concerning. But I take 5 mg folate daily, presumably to
> > lower homocysteine which may or may not affect my risk for heart
> > disease. Previously, I took statins, which may or may not lower my
risk
> > for heart disease. Both then, for prevention, but not real proof
either
> > does that. And although I am not 70, I *am* now being evaluated for
a
> > type of cancer. Statins have shown increase in cancer in at least
one
> > clincial trial. Folate may increase breast cancer. I am not a
scientist
> > and I don't read these things the same way you do. But I think I
can
> > spot a rat when one scurries through my dreams.
> >
> > http://www.cspinet.org/integrity/press/200409231.html
> >
> > "The one study that looked at elderly patients over 70 did not show
a
> > significant reduction in heart disease deaths, but it did show a
> > statistically significant increase in cancer deaths. The authors of
the
> > NCEP report dismissed the finding by combining the cancer data with
> > data from other studies that included much younger patients;"
>
> I wouldn't view this as "spotting a rat". The people recommending
folate
> to lower homocysteine levels believe they are recommending something
> good and helpful. That they might turn out to be wrong is just
reality.

The reference was sympbolic. Not name-calling. I might have said; I saw
the wendigo on my walk today, and came home to learn my grandfather was
ill.

Thank you for responding.

Zee

> In the absence of definitive evidence (like a large randomized trial
of
> folate supplementation for primary prevention of heart disease) we're

> all left with making our best guesses about what does or does not
make
> sense to do. Personally, if my only risk factor for coronary heart
> disease were an elevated homocysteine level, I would not take high
dose
> folate supplementation.
>
> And, in general, if I thought my risk for coronary heart disease were

> too high because of some series of risk factors, I would take a
statin
> whatever those risk factors actually were. That's because my
> interpretation of the various evidence is that just about everyone
can
> expect around a 25 percent reduction in their risk of coronary
disease
> by taking a statin. This relative reduction translates into a pretty
> small absolute decrease in people at low risk and a pretty large
> absolute decrease in people at high risk, but it's there for just
about
> every group of people that has been studied. (People on dialysis are
> probably an exception to this.)
>
> I suppose it could turn out that statins increase the risk of cancer,

> but there's certainly no strong evidence in that direction currently.
In
> fact, there's some weak evidence to suggest that they decrease the
risk
> of various cancers. In any case, in the large trials of statins
overall
> mortality has been pretty consistently reduced. So if statins have
bad
> side effects, they do not seem to be large enough to overwhelm the
> favorable effects of statins on mortality, at least in people at
> increased risk for coronary heart disease.
>
> --
> David Rind
> drind@caregroup.harvard.edu

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