Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Carotenoid supplements linked to improved AIDS survival

The Facts:
* In this Canadian study just over 300 AIDS patients received a multivitamin supplement with approximately half the patients also receiving an additional daily beta-carotene supplement.
* The level of carotenoids in the patients’ blood doubled after 18 months in those patients receiving beta-carotene.
* Patients who had higher blood carotenoid levels at the start of the study or who received beta-carotene during the study had a slightly higher survival rate than those who did not.

Shaun’s comment: This was a large and well-conducted study published in a top-notch journal. The result was a trend towards more deaths in those patients who were not taking the supplement of carotenoids, although this was not statistically significant. Further studies are needed to confirm the findings and determine the mechanism of action, but there are enough data in this paper to suggest that this supplement may well be beneficial to people with the HIV virus.

Study reference:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602447

No comments:

Post a Comment