HIV and vitamins
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
A clinical trial on multivitamins and HIV progression "included a large sample and had adequate statistical power to detect an effect on clinical outcomes," Wafaie Fawzi, Dr/Ph, Harvard School of Public Health, et al. argue in the Sept. 23 New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers write in defense of their study published in the July 1 issue showing multivitamins significantly reduced HIV progression and symptoms in pregnant Tanzanian women (1"The Tan Sheet" July 5, 2004, p. 15). Katharina Schroecksnadel, MD, et al., Innsbruck Medical University, Austria, suggest the most impressive result of Fawzi's study is "the effects of vitamins on the immune system, on disease progression, and on mortality appear to be secondary to immune-system restoration." Fawzi et al. suggest the next trial evaluating early stages of HIV should evaluate nutrients that were not included in the first study, such as selenium...