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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: January 17, 2005
Latest Update: January 17, 2005
E-Mail Icon jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

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The following abstract was taken from a lecture on health and nutrition.

Reduction of C-reactive protein levels through use of a multivitamin. From C-reactive protein on Website of Anti-Aging Research.

Am J Med. 2003 Dec 15;115(9):702-7.
Church TS, Earnest CP, Wood KA, Kampert JB.

The Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas 75230, USA. tchurch@cooperinst.org

PURPOSE: Elevated C-reactive protein levels are associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. We examined whether multivitamins reduce C-reactive protein levels. METHODS: We performed a post hoc subgroup analysis of a 6-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Patients (n = 87; mean age, 53 years) for whom frozen plasma samples were available; who did not have an inflammatory condition at baseline; and who were not hospitalized, taking antibiotics, smoking, or starting statin therapy during the study were included. C-reactive protein and plasma vitamin levels were measured at baseline and 6 months. RESULTS: At 6 months, C-reactive protein levels were significantly lower in the multivitamin group than in the placebo group (between-group difference = -0.91 mg/L; 95% confidence interval: -1.52 to -0.30; P= 0.005). The reduction in C-reactive protein levels was most evident in patients who had elevated levels (> or =1.0 mg/L) at baseline. Of the six vitamins measured (C, E, B(6), B(12), folate, and beta carotene), only vitamin B(6) (baseline: r = -0.31, P= 0.003; 6 months: r = -0.29, P= 0.006) and vitamin C (baseline: r = -0.25, P= 0.02) were inversely associated with C-reactive protein level. CONCLUSION: In a post hoc analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, multivitamin use was associated with lower C-reactive protein levels. Other similarly formulated multivitamins may yield comparable results."

Discussion Questions

  1. What clues does this abstract give you to whether or not this is reliable information, not hype designed to sell you something?

    There are many websites on the Internet. Many are designed to sell the products they believe or say they believe will be of benefit to you. Check the authority of the website! The article I chose here is published in the American Journal of Medicine, 2003. Recent, and a reputable journal. One way to be certain of that is to do a google search on American Journal of Medicine and check it out. Don't believe every article you see, regardless of who wrote it and who published it. Follow the money! Bias can be expected where someone is making a profit. The information may still be true. Or it may not. But if marketing and profit are involved, it's not wise to take their word for it.

  2. Where was the research done? What confidence does this give you in the information's unbiased perspective?

    In response to a google search on the Cooper Institute, I found:

    "The Cooper Institute is dedicated to advancing the understanding of the relationship between living habits and health and to providing leadership in implementing these concepts to enhance the physical and emotional well-being of individuals."

    Sounds good. But what does it mean that they really do? Explore further.

    " The Cooper Institute's main office is located on the northernmost section of The Cooper Aerobics Center campus in Dallas, and a branch office was opened in Denver, Colorado, in July 2002. With its Board of Trustees and Scientific Advisory Council, The Cooper Institute functions as a nonprofit, tax exempt public corporation and maintains financial independence from the rest of The Cooper Aerobics Center companies and divisions. As a result, the Institute relies heavily on the generosity and philanthropic intent of its many friends, benefactors, corporations and foundations."

    Not the American Journal of Medicine, but at least financially separate. And now we know it's an aerobics center. Check out Active Living Every Day in the left-hand frame, and you'll discover what the courses cost. That doesn't mean the information isn't good information. That just means you need to be aware they are selling you something. And they do give you advnced organizer flags as to what some of the barriers to active living are. Good information, even if you aren't in Texas for their aerobic classes.

    Clicking further, I found clinical weight management, with a table to calculate your body mass index. I calculated my present index, and the one before I lost twelve pounds. I wasn't overweight either way, and yet my doctor still fussed at me for gaining weight. That might mean that even doctors are beginning to recognize that they have to do more than just write down our weights. They need to fuss a little about overeating and no exercise. Try the calculator. At least this site is not totally focussed on sales. That adds to my trust of the information. Actually, after checking out the open access files, I wished I could find an equivalent institute here. I need it. jeanne

  3. How will I know that you get it, how to search like this? Tell me on our discussion group site.

    If you're not completely at ease with Internet searches, try to follow the searches on google that I did here. I think on AOL you may not have google, so use what you have. If you can't get to all this information on your own, come to me or Pat, and we'll help you. Then be sure to include on our discussion group that you've completed this search exercise, so we'll have a learning record.

  4. Look at the National Nursing Home Survey, and make a note for yourself and the learning record of how reliable you consider that information, and how you decided whether to trust the information or not. Backup Send a brief summary of your conclusions to the discussion group for our learning records.

  5. The first confusing piece is likely to be the source of the abstract. What is Am J Med?

    First, you could guess. Since the topic of the article is health and asssesing health, the Med is likely to be Medicine, and Am is likely to be American. Since this is an abstract, published, a good guess for the J is journal. Or you could ask someone whom we would consider an "informed respondent," that is, a teacher who will probably know what the initials mean. Or, if no one is around and your guessing is a tad wobbly, you could enter those initials in a google search. That will work, too. The google search will also yield a website with some identification, so you can tell if the journal is peer-reviewed.

  6. What's peer review?

    Peer review means that the editors consult with porfessional colleagues to determine whether the article is worthy of publication, and suggest editing that might make the article better. Of course, if someone is complaining, like jeanne does, that logos is getting more attention than mythos, the peer review might be a barrier to equal access to publication. How will you know these things? Look at the overall contents of what the journal publishes, and ask an "informed respondent."

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