Vitamins When Combined with Anti-oxidants
Reduce Risk of Heart Disease, Stroke
According to New Study
The benefits of taking
a daily multivitamin in combination with one of the antioxidant vitamins
A, C or E, were confirmed in a study published in the July edition of
the American Journal of Epidemiology (2000;152:149-162). The report
confirmed that the greatest benefit is in the reduction of risk of dying
from heart disease and stroke. However, this vitamin regimen may also
increase the risk of dying from cancer in male smokers, the authors
report.
The findings ``warrant corroboration,'' write Margaret L. Watkins and
colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
in Atlanta, Georgia. They call for further studies to examine the role
that vitamins and vitamin combinations may play in dying from heart
disease, cancer and stroke--the three leading causes of death in the
US.
In the study, which included more than 1 million adults aged 30 and
older, researchers compared death rates of those who used multivitamins
alone; vitamin A, C or E alone; or a multivitamin with vitamin A, C
or E; with death rates of people who did not take vitamins, over a 7-year
period.
The investigators found that adults who took a multivitamin with an
antioxidant vitamin had a 15% lower risk of dying from heart disease
and stroke than people who did not take vitamins. Risk appeared to fall
with time as individuals took the vitamin combination.
However, there was no survival advantage among people who took a multivitamin
alone. ``One explanation is that there may be a minimum dose of a single
vitamin or combination of supplements necessary for risk reduction,''
the researchers suggest.
In other findings, the risk of death from cancer was the same among
vitamin users and non-users. Use of multivitamins alone or with other
vitamins seemed to increase the risk of dying from all cancers, compared
with using vitamin A, C or E alone, the report indicates.
Male smokers who used multivitamins alone or in combination with other
vitamins had a higher risk of dying from cancer than nonsmoking males
who took vitamins. What's more, men who smoked and took vitamins had
a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer than male smokers who did
not take vitamins.
These findings support previous research demonstrating that high doses
of beta-carotene can increase the risk of dying from lung cancer in
male smokers. The authors suggest that the use of vitamin A, C or E
may counterbalance the observed elevated cancer mortality risk among
men who used multivitamins.
They also note that adults who took vitamins tended to be more educated
and less overweight than those who did not. Vitamin-takers were also
more likely to eat vegetables and drink wine or liquor.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology 2000;152:149-162.
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