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Your daily multivitamin may be doing more than guarding against vitamin and mineral deficiencies-it could also be protecting you from cancer.
A first-of-its-kind clinical trial, led by J. Michael Gaziano, MD, chief of the Division of Aging at BWH, and Howard D. Sesso, ScD, an associate epidemiologist in the BWH Division of Preventive Medicine, found that daily multivitamin use significantly reduced the risk of cancer in men.
As part of the Physician's Health Study II, researchers had nearly 15,000 men over the age of 50 take either a multivitamin or a placebo every day for more than 10 years. The group that took the daily multivitamin had an 8 percent reduction in total cancer rates and a 12 percent reduction in cancers excluding prostate, compared to the group that took the placebo. They also found that a daily multivitamin was associated with an apparent reduction in cancer deaths.
"Eight percent might not sound like a lot, but when viewed in the scope of cancer prevention, which affects so many U.S. adults, it is quite significant," said Gaziano.
Previous studies have shown high doses of individual vitamins have little effect on the risk of cancer, but this study was the first to test the benefits of a multivitamin over a long period of time.
"It is not known which component of the multivitamin may be responsible for the reduction in cancer risk," said Sesso. "We think the effect may be caused by the combination of lower doses of vitamins and minerals in the multivitamin, similar to what happens when you follow healthier dietary patterns." The multivitamin used in the study was Centrum Silver, but researchers believe any quality, established multivitamin product would likely have the same effect.
Because the clinical trial was conducted in men over the age of 50, it is not known if the results can be extended to women or younger men. A similar study of the same subjects is examining the effect of daily multivitamin use on cardiovascular disease risk. Results of that study will be announced at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in early November.