Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1986 Sep;76(9):1124–1130. doi: 10.2105/ajph.76.9.1124

The relationship between vitamin C intake, general health practices, and mortality in Alameda County, California.

J E Enstrom, L E Kanim, L Breslow
PMCID: PMC1646565  PMID: 3740338

Abstract

To evaluate the relation between vitamin C intake and mortality, a prospective follow-up study was carried out among 3,119 noninstitutionalized adult residents of Alameda County, California who had completed a detailed lifestyle questionnaire around the beginning of 1974. During 10 years of follow-up, 276 deaths have been identified. The questionnaire information and mortality data indicate that this sample is fairly representative of the county population and similar to the United States population. There is no important relation between the estimated 1974 vitamin C intake at levels above and below 250 mg per day and subsequent mortality from cancer, circulatory disease, all other causes, or all causes combined. However, there is an inverse relation between combinations of several health habits and total mortality. The health habits include never smoking cigarettes, regular physical activity, moderate or no use of alcohol, 7-8 hours of sleep per day, and maintaining proper weight. The conclusions with regard to vitamin C are limited by the crudeness with which the dietary intake has been estimated and changes in intake over time. Nevertheless, these results are not consistent with any substantial relation between vitamin C intake and subsequent mortality.

Full text

PDF
1128

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Belloc N. B., Arellano M. G. Computer record linkage on a survey population. Health Serv Rep. 1973 Apr;88(4):344–350. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Breslow L., Enstrom J. E. Persistence of health habits and their relationship to mortality. Prev Med. 1980 Jul;9(4):469–483. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(80)90042-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. CHOPE H. D., BRESLOW L. Nutritional status of the aging. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1956 Jan;46(1):61–67. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cameron E., Pauling L., Leibovitz B. Ascorbic acid and cancer: a review. Cancer Res. 1979 Mar;39(3):663–681. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cameron E., Pauling L. Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer: reevaluation of prolongation of survival times in terminal human cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Sep;75(9):4538–4542. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.9.4538. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Enstrom J. E. Assessing human epidemiologic data on diet as an etiologic factor in cancer development. Bull N Y Acad Med. 1982 Apr;58(3):313–322. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Enstrom J. E., Pauling L. Mortality among health-conscious elderly Californians. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Oct;79(19):6023–6027. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.19.6023. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gilmore A. J. Some characteristics of non-surviving subjects in a three-year longitudinal study of elderly people living at home. Gerontol Clin (Basel) 1975;17(2):72–79. doi: 10.1159/000245560. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kvåle G., Bjelke E., Gart J. J. Dietary habits and lung cancer risk. Int J Cancer. 1983 Apr 15;31(4):397–405. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910310402. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mirvish S. S., Wallcave L., Eagen M., Shubik P. Ascorbate-nitrite reaction: possible means of blocking the formation of carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds. Science. 1972 Jul 7;177(4043):65–68. doi: 10.1126/science.177.4043.65. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Moertel C. G., Fleming T. R., Creagan E. T., Rubin J., O'Connell M. J., Ames M. M. High-dose vitamin C versus placebo in the treatment of patients with advanced cancer who have had no prior chemotherapy. A randomized double-blind comparison. N Engl J Med. 1985 Jan 17;312(3):137–141. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198501173120301. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Schutz H. G., Read M., Bendel R., Bhalla V. S., Harrill I., Monagle J. E., Sheehan E. T., Standal B. R. Food supplement usage in seven Western states. Am J Clin Nutr. 1982 Nov;36(5):897–901. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/36.5.897. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Shapiro L. R., Samuels S., Breslow L., Camacho T. Patterns of vitamin C intake from food and supplements: survey of an adult population in Alameda County, California. Am J Public Health. 1983 Jul;73(7):773–778. doi: 10.2105/ajph.73.7.773. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Truett J., Cornfield J., Kannel W. A multivariate analysis of the risk of coronary heart disease in Framingham. J Chronic Dis. 1967 Jul;20(7):511–524. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(67)90082-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Weisburger J. H., Marquardt H., Mower H. F., Hirota N., Mori H., Williams G. Inhibition of carcinogenesis: Vitamin C and the prevention of gastric cancer. Prev Med. 1980 May;9(3):352–361. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(80)90228-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wilson T. S., Datta S. B., Murrell J. S., Andrews C. T. Relation of vitamin C levels to mortality in a geriatric hospital: a study of the effect of vitamin C administration. Age Ageing. 1973 Aug;2(3):163–171. doi: 10.1093/ageing/2.3.163. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wilson T. S., Weeks M. M., Mukherjee S. K., Murrell J. S., Andrews C. T. A study of vitamin C levels in the aged and subsequent mortality. Gerontol Clin (Basel) 1972;14(1):17–24. doi: 10.1159/000245367. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wingard D. L., Berkman L. F., Brand R. J. A multivariate analysis of health-related practices: a nine-year mortality follow-up of the Alameda County Study. Am J Epidemiol. 1982 Nov;116(5):765–775. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113466. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. el Lozy M. Dietary variability and its impact on nutritional epidemiology. J Chronic Dis. 1983;36(3):237–249. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(83)90058-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES