Daily multivitamin use by men does not lower cardiovascular disease risk

Taken from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) – by Bruce Sylvester – Daily multivitamin use by men does not reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers reported in a study published on Nov. 5 in JAMA/Journal of the American Medical Association.

“The findings from our large clinical trial do not support the use of a common daily multivitamin supplement for the sole purpose of preventing cardiovascular disease in men,” said investigator Howard D. Sesso, ScD, associate epidemiologist in the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham  and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston. Massachusetts. “The decision to take a daily multivitamin should be made in consultation with one’s doctor and consideration given to an individual’s nutritional status and other potential effects of multivitamins, including the previously reported modest reduction in cancer risk.”

The investigators enrolled nearly 15,000 men over the age of 50 in the study. They tracked the subjects for more than 10 years.

The men were randomized to a daily multivitamin or placebo. The investigators found no significant impact from multivitamin use on risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular mortality. Also, the effect of daily multivitamin on major cardiovascular events was no different for subjects with a baseline history of cardiovascular disease compared with subjects free of cardiovascular disease at baseline.

J. Michael Gaziano, MD, chief of the Division of Aging at BWH and senior author of the study, said, “Since so many Americans take daily multivitamins, studies like this are key to providing us with valuable information about what specific benefits multivitamins do or do not provide in terms of their long-term impact on chronic diseases. For cardiovascular disease, we must continue to emphasize a heart-healthy diet, physical activity, smoking cessation and regular screening for cardiovascular risk factors.”

This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and an investigator-initiated grant from BASF Corporation.