No decrease in MI, stroke, mortality in U.S. physicians followed for more than a decade
TUESDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Multivitamins do not reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events, according to a study published in the Nov. 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, held from Nov. 3 to 7 in Los Angeles.
Howard D. Sesso, Sc.D., M.P.H., from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data from 14,641 male U.S. physicians (mean age, 64.3 years), including 754 men with a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD), participating in the Physicians' Health Study II, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a common daily multivitamin.
During a median follow-up of 11.2 years, the researchers identified 1,732 confirmed major cardiovascular events. A daily multivitamin had no significant effect on major cardiovascular events compared with placebo (11.0 and 10.8 events per 1,000 person-years, respectively; P = 0.91). A daily multivitamin had no impact on total myocardial infarction (MI) (3.9 and 4.2 events per 1,000 person-years; P = 0.39); total stroke (4.1 and 3.9 events per 1,000 person-years; P = 0.48); CVD mortality (5.0 and 5.1 events per 1,000 person-years; P = 0.47); or total mortality (P = 0.13). There was no difference between men with or without a history of CVD for the effect of a daily multivitamin on major cardiovascular events.
"Among this population of U.S. male physicians, taking a daily multivitamin did not reduce major cardiovascular events, MI, stroke, and CVD mortality after more than a decade of treatment and follow-up," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the nutrition and pharmaceutical industries. BASF Corporation, Pfizer, and DSM Nutritional Products provided the study drugs and packaging.
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