Vitamin B-6 Cures Colorectal CA?

Dr. Harriott's Comments:

Below my comments is an interesting abstract of meta-analysis study showing the relationship between vitamin B-6 and colorectal cancer.

We hear from time to time some news blurb about how vitamins don't significantly affect lifespan. Typically this conflicting information comes from studies funded by the medical industry itself. Nonetheless, vitamin supplements exist in the marketplace because of other studies... just like this B-6 study. So who is right?

In the end, the truth of the matter is that the healthiest person gets proper nutrition, exercise, sleep, and takes care of his/her body, mind and soul. When a problem does become apparent, the solution is not automatically sought in a pill bottle, but rather the root cause is pursued.

Proper nutrition is only one piece of the puzzle so simply taking B-6 will not prevent colon cancer. But if you are eating and living right, you will likely have plenty of vitamin B-6 naturally. And with greater levels of B-6 through your diet, or a combination of dietary sources and B-6 supplementation, it is clear that your chances for developing colon cancer is reduced by a significant amount. The same can be said of the results one can expect from taking any other "miracle vitamin" that has "research which shows" its benefits for this or that "disease".

The most important thing to understand, then, is that a disease is not a thing that you "zap" with a vitamin. It is a loss of proper function in your body. And such dysfunction typically does not cause just one disease, but rather increases your risk for many different problems. And the initiating dysfunction, or "cause", was what you do or don't do everyday.

Q. "What kind of a disease or dysfunction is your high blood pressure?"

A. "High blood pressure is not a disease, it is a symptom. The root cause or initiating dysfunction that caused this symptom is what I did every day for the last twenty years. The crappy food choices I made and when I chose to eat, not getting enough sleep, not properly dealing with stress, not making time to exercise, ... The dysfunction started out behavioral, and eventually worsened until it has now affected my organ systems. My solution will not be found in a pill, but rather in going back and correcting the root cause - the behavioral dysfunction that started it all."

Bottom line: Do the right thing and live well. It's just that easy...

And I can help. Your body's ability to adapt and right itself is dependent on neurological perception of your environment and coordination/control of your organ systems. I can help guide you and with chiropractic, I can help you to maintain full clear communication within your nervous system through chiropractic adjustments so that you can heal closer to 100% and more quickly recover your optimal health.

If you haven't been to my office, print out a coupon from my website http://www.mvchiro.com. If you are a patient already, print out a coupon for someone you love. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Dr. Harriott

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Vitamin B6 and Risk of Colorectal Cancer
A Meta-analysis of Prospective Studies

Susanna C. Larsson, PhD; Nicola Orsini, PhD; Alicja Wolk, DMSc
JAMA. 2010;303(11):1077-1083.

Context Mounting evidence indicates that vitamin B6, a coenzyme involved in nearly 100 enzymatic reactions, may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

Objective To conduct a systematic review with meta-analysis of prospective studies assessing the association of vitamin B6 intake or blood levels of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP; the active form of vitamin B6) with risk of colorectal cancer.

Data Sources Relevant studies were identified by a search of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases to February 2010, with no restrictions. We also reviewed reference lists from retrieved articles.

Study Selection We included prospective studies that reported relative risk (RR) estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between vitamin B6 intake or blood PLP levels and the risk of colorectal, colon, or rectal cancer.

Data Extraction Two authors independently extracted data and assessed study quality. Study-specific RRs were pooled using a random-effects model.

Data Synthesis Nine studies on vitamin B6 intake and 4 studies on blood PLP levels were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled RRs of colorectal cancer for the highest vs lowest category of vitamin B6 intake and blood PLP levels were 0.90 (95% CI, 0.75-1.07) and 0.52 (95% CI, 0.38-0.71), respectively. There was heterogeneity among studies of vitamin B6 intake (P = .01) but not among studies of blood PLP levels (P = .95). Omitting 1 study that contributed substantially to the heterogeneity among studies of vitamin B6 intake yielded a pooled RR of 0.80 (95% CI, 0.69-0.92). The risk of colorectal cancer decreased by 49% for every 100-pmol/mL increase (approximately 2 SDs) in blood PLP levels (RR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.38-0.69).

Conclusion Vitamin B6 intake and blood PLP levels were inversely associated with the risk of colorectal cancer in this meta-analysis.


Author Affiliations: Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, National Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.