Huge study
boosts disappointment on multivitamins
Feb 9, 6:12
PM (ET)
By LINDSEY TANNER
CHICAGO (AP)
- The largest study ever of multivitamin use in older women found the pills did
nothing to prevent common cancers or heart disease. The eight-year study in
161,808 postmenopausal women echoes recent disappointing vitamin studies in
men.
Millions of
Americans spend billions of dollars on vitamins to boost their health. Research
has focused on cancer and heart disease in particular because of evidence that
diets full of vitamin-rich foods may protect against those illnesses. But that
evidence doesn't necessarily mean pills are a good substitute.
The study's
lead author, researcher Marian Neuhouser of the
The study
appears in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine.
Co-author Dr.
JoAnn Manson said despite the disappointing results,
the research doesn't mean multivitamins are useless.
For one
thing, the data are observational, not the most rigorous kind of scientific
research. And also, it's not clear if taking vitamins might help prevent
cancers that take many years to develop, said Manson, chief of preventive
medicine at Harvard's Brigham & Women's Hospital.
She said
multivitamins may still be useful "as a form of insurance" for people
with poor eating habits.
The study
involved an analysis of data on women in their 50s and up who participated in
long-running government studies on postmenopausal women. Almost 42 percent of
the women said they used multivitamins regularly.
After about
eight years, roughly equal numbers of vitamin users and nonusers developed
common cancers, heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems. Overall, there
were 9,619 cases of cancer, including cancers of the breast, lung, ovary, colon
and stomach; and 8,751 cardiovascular ailments including heart attacks and
strokes. In addition, 9,865 women died, also at similar rates in multivitamin
users and nonusers.
Alice
Lichtenstein, a
"All the
evidence keeps pointing in the same direction," Lichtenstein said.
Eric Jacobs,
an American Cancer Society epidemiologist, said while his group doesn't advise
vitamins to prevent cancer, it does recommend maintaining a healthy weight and
eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily while limiting red
meat. Similar habits are also thought to help reduce heart disease risks.