Do vitamins stop cancer, heart attacks? Study: NO

Thatgirl

For some reason, I don't believe this is true. It can't be the whole story, can it? So many studies suggesting Vit D, mushrooms, etc. Please share your opinion. 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Will taking multivitamins protect you from dying of cancer or heart disease? The answer is no, according to new research.

In a study of more than 180,000 people, scientists saw the same number of deaths from cancer and heart disease among multivitamin-takers and those who did not take the supplements.

"People need to understand that just taking these multivitamins is not sufficient to prevent disease," said Jennifer Hsiang-Ling Lin, assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who did not work on the study.

Multiple past studies have shown no link between multivitamins and reduced risk of cancer or heart disease. Other recent research couldn't prove that multivitamins protect against diabetes, either.

Some small studies in the past have shown that specific vitamins, not multivitamins, may be protective against heart disease or cancer later in life. However these studies looked at undernourished people, not generally healthy adults like the U.S. population, said co-author Song-Yi Park, assistant professor of epidemiology at University of Hawaii Cancer Center in Honolulu.

On its web site, the U.S. National Institutes of Health advise that doctors should prescribe multivitamins only "for patients who need extra vitamins, who cannot eat enough food to obtain the required vitamins, or who cannot receive the full benefit of the vitamins contained in the food they eat."

But more than half of U.S. adults choose to take multivitamins, according to Lin.

Many do because they think it will prevent chronic disease, said Ross Prentice, director of the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, who also did not work on the new study.

Altogether, Park's team looked at the vitamin-popping habits of more than 82,000 men and nearly 100,000 women, who were an average of 60 years old. Then they tracked how many died, and the causes, over the next 11 years.

Overall, about six in 100 multivitamin users and non-users died from heart disease. Cancer claimed about five in 100 from both groups, and four in 100 died from other causes. In total, almost 29,000 people died in the 11 years of follow-up.

The multivitamins didn't seem to protect users from cancer in general, or from cancers of the lung, colon, rectum, prostate, or breast.

Each year in the U.S. about 616,000 people die from heart disease and about 560,000 die from cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

The researchers did not find that taking multivitamins hurts anyone, Lin noted.

However, they can be expensive. According to Consumer Reports, Americans spent almost $4.7 billion on multivitamins in 2008. Depending on the type, supplements range from $3 to $16 a month.

This study could not prove that multivitamins do or don't affect people's risks for heart disease and cancer. A large clinical trial -- one that can show cause and effect, if it exists -- is underway but the results aren't available yet.

Past studies have mostly involved Caucasians, Lin said. The current one, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, included large numbers of Latino and Japanese-American people. This shows that the lack of association held up for different racial groups as well, she said.

The best way to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, according to Lin? Exercise and eat a healthy diet.

dlb823

Most multivitamins contain only the minimum RDA.  Many are cheap, synthetic, extracted vitamins -- a far cry from the complete spectrum of macro & micro nutrients that exist in fresh, wholesome food and higher quality natural supplements. 

I firmly believe that the lack of certain nutrients (Vitamin D, for example), does play a role in the development of disease.  But taking a cheap one-a-day type vitamin that might have 50 mg. of  synthetic vitamin D2, for example, won't give you the same results that taking 1,000 or more mg. of natural D3 will.  So, IMO, that's why they come up with negative results. 

In addition, no vitamin supplement(s) in the world are going to keep you healthy if you eat  processed, junk & fast "food," have a sedentary lifestyle, smoke, drink in excess, etc.  So, as far as I'm concerned, that research doesn't show anything we don't already know.  If you are serious about supplements, find out what you're low in (via bloodwork), find a quality brand (natural food markets carry several) that does what it's supposed to do, and be careful that your eating & lifestyle habits don't undo whatever it is you're trying to accomplish with supplements.  JMHO,    Deanna   

PS ~ I just want to clarify that I'm not naive enough to believe that lifestyle alone, with or without vitamin supplements, can totally reduce or eliminate the risk of illness.  Certainly, genetics is a key factor, as is stress, carcinogens and other environmental toxins.

mouse51

I tend to agree with Deanna - a multivitamin alone probably won't make much difference.  I've had bloodwork done to see what I'm deficient in (I have a good IM MD) and I take supplements to correct those deficiencies.  I'm not into taking alot of vitamins unless I know I truly need them. Probably one of the best things I take is a whole food supplement containing the powdered form of 17 juiced fruits and vegetables - I take twice the dosage to get 34 servings.  This way, I get all of the phytonutrients contained in the fruit & veggies, and my body uses what it needs from these nutrients. 

Yazmin

I am with Deanna and mouse51. I know what my well-researched vitamin regimen AND dietary "excellence" have done for me over the years since diagnosis!

Case in point: I recently visited a friend who was fighting a very serious case of flu. I stayed with her TEN days. Day in. Day out. Did not catch the flu. Not even a slight fever. Not even a slight headache.

I am feeling more energetic than I was when I was 23 years old and paying no attention whatsoever to my diet and vitamin intake. Changing my diet 380 degrees after my diagnosis (in 2006), and continually fine-tuning my supplements intake is the best thing I have ever done for myself in terms of staying healthy, and reducing my chronic disease risk......