subject: Dietary Supplements for Chronic Illnesses [print this page] Dietary Supplements for Chronic Illnesses
Most people have family medical histories that include chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and even cancer, and medical experts are only now beginning to unravel the genetic factors that can predispose people to certain chronic illnesses. But even though the specific genetic factors influencing certain chronic health conditions are not known, many mainstream medical practitioners are coming around to the idea that optimum nutrition that includes the use of dietary supplements in many cases can influence the course of chronic conditions.
Basics of Dietary Supplements
Many, if not most doctors today believe that taking a high quality, daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplement is not harmful, and can actually help maintain health. Many chronic conditions result in poor nutrition due to lack of time or energy needed to prepare a correct diet. Therefore, multi-vitamins can serve as a daily source for nutrients that may be missing in the diet.
Some medical practices, particularly those that specialize in women's health, recommend that every woman take a high-quality multi-vitamin supplement every day. But they do urge caution when it comes to supplementation with mega-doses and unproven vitamin regimens, some of which could be harmful in some people.
Nutrition and Chronic Disease
Seven of ten Americans alive today will die from the complications of some form of chronic disease, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, autoimmune diseases, and osteoporosis. The incidence of chronic disease has increased, partly as a side effect of greater longevity. But stress does play a role in the severity of many chronic conditions, and nutrition plays a great role in the management of bodily stress.
Conventional medicine focuses on disease screening and disease management and cure through drugs and sometimes surgery. But conventional medicine often ignores the importance of nutrition as an underlying factor in the development of disease. While genetics may result in a predisposition to a disease, in most cases genes don't definitively determine whether someone will get a disease. Genes may combine with other factors to increase chances of disease, and nutrition is one of these factors. Dietary supplements can ensure proper nutrition so that dietary deficiencies don't increase disease chances.
Multi-Vitamins and Management of Chronic Illnesses
Nutrition affects the immune system, organ functioning, cell metabolism, and hormonal balance. It can take years for a nutritional deficiency to result in disease. Because of nutritional burdens caused by modern lifestyles and varying quality of the foods we eat, many doctors recommend daily dietary supplements in the form of a multi-vitamin for nutritional support. Even the Journal of the American Medical Association stated in 2002 that it "appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements."
