ATLANTA, GEORGIA. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
have just released a major study aimed at determining the benefits of vitamin
supplementation. The study involved over one million adult Americans (450,000
men and 610,000 women) over the age of 30 years in 1982 when the study
commenced. The participants completed questionnaires regarding their diet,
lifestyle, educational background, smoking status, etc. and were also
specifically asked about their use of multivitamins alone, vitamin A, vitamin C
or vitamin E on their own or a combination of multivitamins and vitamins A, C or
E (antioxidants). By 1989 85,000 of the study participants had died; 22,800 (27
per cent) from ischemic heart disease, 5460 (6 per cent) from stroke, 29,800 (35
per cent) from cancer, and 27,000 (32 per cent) from other causes. Thirty per cent of the men and 37 per cent of the women participating in the study reported the use of multivitamins alone or in combination with vitamins A, C or E in the month preceding the questionnaire. Twelve per cent of men and 13 per cent of women had used vitamins A, C or E without a multivitamin and 58 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women had used no vitamins at all. Vitamin users tended to be more educated, less overweight, and more likely to eat vegetables and drink wine or liquor.
A detailed examination of the data collected in the study revealed that men and
women who took both multivitamins and extra vitamins A, C or E (no distinction
was made between these antioxidant vitamins) had a 15 per cent lower risk of
dying from heart disease or stroke than did people who took only multivitamins
or no vitamins at all. Non-smoking men who took both multivitamins and
antioxidants reduced their risk of dying from cancer by 10 to 14 per cent while
male smokers who used vitamins with or without vitamins A, C or E increased
their cancer risk by about 15 per cent. No similar relationship was observed
for women. The researchers conclude that the use of multivitamins and
antioxidants (vitamins C, E or A) in combination may reduce mortality from heart
disease and stroke, but caution that some vitamin supplements may adversely
affect male smokers.
|