Vitamin controversy

Many people take vitamins hoping they will ward off cancer or other debilitating diseases. The truth is, they are only one part of the preventive care puzzle. A new study shows that vitamins alone will not prevent a variety of cancers or heart attacks.

In a study of more than 180,000 people, doctors saw no difference in the death rate of those taking vitamins and those not taking them. “People need to understand that just taking these multivitamins is not sufficient to prevent disease,” said Jennifer Hsiang-Ling Lin, assist professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Co-author of the study, Song-Yi Park, assistant professor of epidemiology at University of Hawaii Cancer Center in Honolulu, said that the small studies which show some protection from heart attack and cancer from multivitamins are looking at malnourished populations. The average American gets a sufficient amount of vitamins through regular diet.

Park’s team of researchers looked at people average age 60 of all races for their vitamin taking habits and tracked them for 11 years. At the end of that time, about six in 100 died from heart disease, five in 100 died from cancer, and four in 100 perished from other diseases. The vitamin takers and non-vitamin takers were equal.

A larger study taking into account lifestyle choices is under way.

Importantly, they did not find that vitamins hurt people, except in the pocketbook noting that vitamins can get very expensive.

Source: American Journal of Epidemiology, Reuters