O assunto hoje (não) é... vitaminas. Ainda hoje o consenso é pouco mas o certo é que este tema é investigado a fundo há cerca de 40 anos e um dos maiores cientistas neste campo foi um tal... Linus Pauling, um tipo assim p'ó desconhecido que por acaso recebeu vários prémios Nobel e fez trabalho pioneiros em Química Quântica e Biologia Molecular.
Não quero com esta posta influenciar a opinião de ninguém sobre este assunto. Tenho a minha opinião, que é totalmente favorável, mas não é "A verdade".
O meu objectivo com este post é somente (e já é muito) denunciar como é fácil fazer alguém adoptar uma determinada ideia. Já se pensaram se realmente aquilo em que acreditamos tem alguma base de sustentação, ou foi passado "por osmose". Claro que de um lado, e do seu oposto, as coisas podem ser manipuladas de modo a serem convenientes. A minha mensagem hoje é essa: tentemos ver os dois lados, ou os três ou quatro. Quantos forem precisos. Formemos a nossa opinião sustentada... ou pelo menos a nossa opinião. Isso já nem seria mau. O terrível é que muitas vezes a "nossa" opinião é produto directo, não assimilável, do que ingerimos sem sequer deglutir. E são os media que nos levam a colher à boca.
E no que toca à saúde, à nossa saúde, o caso é ainda mais flagrante quando o verdadeiro interesse de bastidores está longe de ser a nossa saúde.
E perguntam-me o que é que isto tem a ver com vitaminas? Mais do que a ver com saúde, tem a ver com a opinião que insistem em que formemos. Ora vejam lá este artigo publicado na BBC sobre vitamina B12 e Alzheimer. Leiam bem o título:
"Vitamin B12 link to Alzheimer's backed by study"
Leram? o que acharam? Interessante?
Leiam o lead (somente a parte mais importante da notícia, o que geralmente as pessoas lêem):
"Evidence is mounting that levels of vitamin B12 may be connected to the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease."
O que vos sugere? Pois calculo. Mas agora façam-me(-vos) um favor e leiam realmente a notícia:
"Vitamin B12 link to Alzheimer's backed by study
Evidence is mounting that levels of vitamin B12 may be connected to the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
A study of 271 Finns found those with the highest levels were the least likely to be diagnosed with dementia.
However, an Alzheimer's charity said despite the findings, published in the journal Neurology, it was "too early" to think about taking supplements.
It called for more research into the protective power of vitamins such as B12 - found in meat, fish and eggs.Vitamin B12 can also be found in milk and some fortified cereals.
Alzheimer's has been linked to B vitamins for some years, and scientists know that higher levels of a body chemical called homocysteine can raise the risk of both strokes and dementia.
Homocysteine levels can be lowered by increasing the amount of vitamin B12 in the blood.
A recent trial found that "brain shrinkage", which has been associated with Alzheimer's, was slowed in older people taking high doses of vitamins, including B12.
The volunteers for the latest study, carried out by scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, were all aged 65 to 79, and did not have dementia at the start of the study.
Over the next seven years, 17 of them were diagnosed with the condition, and researchers were able to work out whether high or low levels of the active component of B12 had made any difference.
Again, those with high levels of homocysteine appeared to be at greater risk, and those with the highest levels of the vitamin appeared to be at lower risk.
Professor Helga Refsum, from the University of Oslo, another B-vitamin researcher, said that the study was "further evidence" that low levels of B12 were linked to Alzheimer's.
"Though relatively small, with few cases of dementia, it should act as another incentive to start a large scale trial with homocysteine-lowering therapy using B vitamins to see whether such a simple treatment may slow the development of Alzheimer's or other dementia."
Rebecca Wood, the chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, was cautious about the findings.
She said: "It might be tempting at this stage to stock up the cupboard with B vitamin in the light of recent findings - it remains too early to do that at this stage.
"The strongest evidence we have for reducing dementia risk is to eat a healthy, balanced diet, take moderate exercise, and keep cholesterol and blood pressure in check, particularly in mid-life."
A separate study offered some encouragement to those looking for future treatments for the disease.
A treatment to lower levels of a protein called "STEP" in mice bred to develop a condition similar to Alzheimer's disease appeared to reverse some of their memory and learning problems.
The Alzheimer's Research Trust said it was too soon to know whether a similar treatment might be viable in humans."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11569602
