The intake of daily multivitamins does not lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in men, says a new finding.
“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 Howard D. Sesso, associate epidemiologist in Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).
“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,” said Sesso, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported.
Researchers enrolled nearly 15,000 men over 50 years and followed them for more than 10 years.
The men were randomly assigned to take either a multivitamin or a placebo (sugar pills) daily which ensured that both treatment groups were identical with respect to risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
They self-reported episodes of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular disease, and a panel of physicians reviewed and confirmed their events with medical records.
Researchers then compared the group that took the multivitamin with the group that took the placebo and found no significant impact on risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular mortality.
J. Michael Gaziano, chief of the Division of Aging at BWH and senior study author, said: “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.”
These findings were presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2012.
—-IANS