LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Vitamins: Studies
built 619 days ago
Throughout the early 1900s, the use of deprivation studies allowed scientists to isolate and identify a number of vitamins. Initially, lipid from fish oil was used to cure rickets in rats, and the fat-soluble nutrient was called "antirachitic A". The irony here is that the first "vitamin" bioactivity ever isolated, which cured rickets, was initially called "vitamin A", the bioactivity of which is now called vitamin D.[11] What we now call "vitamin A" was identified in fish oil because it was inactivated by ultraviolet light. In 1931, Albert Szent-Györgyi and a fellow researcher Joseph Svirbely determined that "hexuronic acid" was actually vitamin C and noted its anti-scorbutic activity. In 1937, Szent-Györgyi was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery. In 1943 Edward Adelbert Doisy and Henrik Dam were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery of vitamin K and its chemical structure.
Source:
Abstract: The interactions of oral contraceptive agents (OCA's) with vitamins were studied in a large population of women. In the upper socioeconomic groups, higher incidences of abnormal clinical signs related to vitamin deficiencies were seen in OCA users than in the control subjects. Plasma pyridoxal phosphate and red cell and serum folate were lower in subjects using OCA's in the upper socioeconomic group as compared to levels in the control subjects. Reduction in erythrocyte glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (EGOT) activity and elevation in the EGOT-stimulation test were observed in subjects using OCA's in both upper and lower socioeconomic groups. These observations suggest a relatively deficient state with respect to vitamins B6 and folic acid in OCA users. No significant effect on serum vitamin B12 was observed as a result of OCA administration.
Source:
Different studies on the same vitamins often present conflicting information. Why the contrary findings? A closer look at the study's design often reveals the cause of these discrepancies. Next time you read a news story about a vitamin trial, keep the following questions in mind, since the answers may help you put conflicting results into context:
Source:
A major international trial is to investigate whether supplements of B vitamins can protect people from a second stroke. The trial aims to gather 8000 patients by the end of the year. The UK's Medical Research Council has awarded £280,000 (€403, 000) to fund the UK arm of the Vitatops study that will see up to 1,000 stroke patients recruited from the UK.
Source:
More studies are suggesting that different vitamins protect against different forms of cancer, and some point to a benefit from gamma-tocopherol in reducing the risk of developing prostate cancer. Scientists say... that more research is needed.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Studies