BREAKING THROUGH: ANTIOXIDANTS MAY BE DANGEROUS IN A SETTING OF IRON DEFICIENCY: THE LUNG CANCER STORY

 AT ISSUE: LUNG CANCER IN NON SMOKER, PROMINENT IN WOMEN

According to Lynne Eldridge MD
"Overall, 10-15% of lung cancers occur in non-smokers. (Another 50% occur in former smokers.)
Two-thirds of the non-smokers who get lung cancer are women, and 20% of lung cancers in women occur in individuals who have never smoked. This percentage is significantly higher in Asian women."
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Now,  the inferences to this statement are:
1. That there is something peculiar in women, particularly of Asian origin, that predispose them to this Cancer.  And what we know about women in general is that they have more Estrogen than men.  And that, in general women tend to be more Iron deficient because of their Menses!  The one child policy increases Estrogen fluctuation exposure and prolonged menses period, and therefore the likelihood of iron deficiency!

2. Asian women are known for their good diet full of Anti-oxidants  (Nuts, Green tea, etc.), and their Beta-carotene based nutrition (Pumpkins, carots, apricots ) exposing them to increased amounts of Vitamin A.

3. "10-15% of lung cancers in non smokers" means in the United States alone where there will be 222,520 new cases, we are talking about 30,000 new cases of lung cancers in non smokers who are  somewhat involved by this hypothetical discussion.

4. WHO: "recent studies have shown that the intakes of Calcium Zinc Magnesium, Potassium and other essential minerals were insufficient and are a traditional problem in the chinese diet" Chen J Gao et al.
This implicates Zinc deficiency which has  documented interactions with Iron.  This implicates the water supply as a poor source of Iron or Zinc for that matter.  WHO has not proposed any guideline values for Iron in drinking water.  "The average iron value in water supplies across Hong Kong is very low (2.2 millions families are affected by this deficiency"(Fox Yi hu)

5. "Beta-carotene supplementation was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer among high risk populations of heavy smokers in 2 out of 3 clinical trials" (David Gerber et al!)

THERE WAS NO OBSERVATION LOOKING AT THE SERUM LEVEL OF IRON OR ZINC IN THE EVALUATION OF THIS RISK!