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From: sebb@pyuxss.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Vitamin survey--The Results
Message-ID: <224@pyuxss.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 7-Dec-83 08:42:21 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxss.224
Posted: Wed Dec  7 08:42:21 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 9-Dec-83 05:11:03 EST
Organization: Bell Labs, Piscataway
Lines: 65


	Here are the results of the survey on vitamins I posted
about 3 weeks ago. I got quite a few reponses(considering the
number of people that I believe read net.med) and many people
expressed a desire to see the results and my own views on the
subject. First the results(my opinions are in a separate article
because this is long enough already):

Question 1: Do you take vitamins?
	15 responses
		13 yes or sometimes
		2  no
Question 2: Why do you take vitamins?
	8 to make up for bad diets and abusive lifestyles
	4 to prevent colds
	2 because my parents give them to me
	2 because vitamin supplements are good for you
Question 3: Do vitamins have preventative or curative powers?
	Most people agreed that vitamins could prevent certain
	diseases caused by deficiencies.
   Preventative:
	6 said yes (mostly for colds, the flu)
	6 said no
	4 said maybe or no opinion
   Curative:
	4 said vitamins have curative powers(actual or as a
	psychological boost-placebo)
	7 said no
	4 said maybe or no opinion
Question 4,5: Medical emphasis
	7 people said the medical profession should emphasize
	nutrition more and vitamins if studies backed up such
	an opinion. Education was a word used quite often. People
	seem to feel that their doctors do not emphasize the im-
	portance of a good diet. 
	1 person said vitamins should be emphasized less
	2 people said that present emphasis was fine
	3 people had no opinion
   This is obviously a personal question, depending on what
   your own doctor tells you.
Question 6: The value of vitamins
	I have to apologize on the wording of this question;
	I meant vitamin supplements. Most people distinguished
	supplements from dietary vitamns for me. 
	No one said that vitamins, themselves, were quarkery.
	1 person said that supplements are worthless.
	5 people said that megavitamins are worthless.
Question 7: Are vitamins a waste of money?
	3 people said yes
	10 said no
	3 had no opinion
	1 person said that it depended on the person and the usage-
	actually an opinion echoed by a few people who thought that
	vitamins are not a waste of money.
Question 8: Do you or could you get a balanced diet w/o vitamins?
	This is my favorite question. 
	4 people said yes
	2 people said sometimes
	3 people said it was doubtful
	7 people said no(many of whom said they led a fairly 
	abusive lifestyle)

	Thanks to all who responded. I found all the responses
interesting.
					Sharon Badian