Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - One of the most common dietary supplements taken by many American adults is a daily multivitamin.
Recently, a new study found that men over 50 who took a multivitamin had a modest reduction in the risk of developing cancer.
The same study also examined whether taking a daily multivitamin could help prevent cardiovascular disease events.
Doctors Howard Sesso and J. Michael Gaziano from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and co-authors conducted a randomized controlled trial.
Researchers examined whether taking a daily multivitamin had any long-term effect on preventing cardiovascular-disease events including heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death.
Psychiatrist Philip Sandler was one of more than 14,000 male physicians participating in the physicians’ health study two. One group took a daily multivitamin for up to 14 years, including follow-up. The other participants took a placebo.
The study appears in a theme issue on cardiovascular disease in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study also found a modest reduction in total cancer among men who took the multivitamin.
Researchers say a heart healthy diet remains a critical part of cardiovascular disease prevention.
