Daily multivitamins don’t increase life span; Continuous blood glucose monitors cause anxiety; Finland to offer first preemptive bird flu vaccine – Morning Medical Update

Daily multivitamins don’t increase life span

A study from the National Institute of Health (NIH) found that multivitamins won’t increase one’s life span, with researchers reporting, “multivitamin use to improve longevity is not supported.”

The study also found no evidence to support that daily multivitamin consumption decreased the risk of death from conditions such as heart disease or cancer. Interestingly, healthy people who took daily multivitamins were 4% more likely than non-users to die, according to researchers.

Read more about the effects of multivitamins on one’s longevity here.

Continuous blood glucose monitors cause anxiety

Experts warned yesterday that diet firms offering blood sugar monitors are potentially causing harm to healthy people, causing many to develop anxiety and eating disorders. For years, blood sugar monitors have been used to help people manage diabetes, but for people who do not live with the condition, there is limited evidence that proves monitors are good to use.

Currently, several firms, such as the ZOE program founded by professor Tim Spector, offer continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), which track a customer’s blood sugar levels through a stick-on patch on their arm. This reports information to a smartphone app that records spikes when sugar from digested food enters the blood supply.

Dietitian Adrian Brown said people not living with diabetes are being misled by these firms, as there is limited evidence suggesting that these monitors aid people without the condition. He said, “The vast majority of data even in people living with diabetes is industry-funded…so there is the need for more independent research to be conducted outside of commercially funded research.”

Finland to offer first preemptive bird flu vaccine

As soon as next week, Finland plans to offer a preemptive bird flu vaccination to some workers with exposure to animals, making it the first country in the world to do so. The country has bought vaccines for 10,000 people, each with two injections, part of a joint EU procurement of up to 40 million doses for 15 nations. The vaccines were manufactured by Australian company CSL Seqirus.

As of recent, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed or caused the slaughtering of hundreds of millions of poultry globally. The strain has also been spreading to mammals, including cows in the US, as well as humans. Finland has not detected the strain in humans, according to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

In a statement, the THL said, “The vaccine will be offered to those aged 18 or over who are at increased risk of contracting avian influenza due to their work or other circumstances.”