Multivitamins Don't Lower Heart Disease Risk
Taking multivitamins everyday doesn't keep the heart healthy, says a new study.
The study, published in the Journal of American Medical Association, found no association between multivitamins and lower cardiovascular disease risk.
"We still feel very comfortable with the conclusions for the cancer findings. The lack of effect for cardiovascular disease versus cancer benefit isn't necessarily inconsistent. There could be a difference in mechanism of effect," Dr. Howard Sesso, study author and associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, told Reuters.
Researchers used data from Physicians' Health Study II - a study that has tracked the use of multivitamins in more than 14,000 physicians over 50 between 1997 and 2011. Researchers found that after 11 years, people on multivitamins had no reduced risk of heart diseases than those who were on placebo or dummy pills.
About 33 percent of all people living in the U.S take some multivitamin or mineral supplements. According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, use of multivitamins increased with age, with 48 percent of women and 43 percent men over age 71 taking supplements.
Researchers say that those who take vitamins tend to avoid healthy eating and exercise that could actually lower the risk of heart diseases.
"Many people take vitamins as a crutch. There's no substitute for a heart-healthy diet and exercise," said Dr. Sesso to The Wall Street Journal.
According to Medline Plus, people should try and get the vitamins they need from food. People who have low levels of certain vitamins can take supplements. However, higher doses of vitamin supplements can harm the body.
The study was funded by The National Institutes of Health along with a grant from BASF corporation. The products used in the study were from BASF, Pfizer Inc and DSM Nutrition Products, Reuters reported.
Cardiologist Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York who wasn't involved in the new study, said that making changes to diet, exercising and avoiding tobacco are the factors that could keep the heart healthy.
"Every single time, the most compelling prevention trials are in lifestyle management," Steinbaum told USA Today.