Multivitamin use cuts risk of heart attack
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Taking multivitamins may help reduce risk of heart attack or myocardial infarction in women, a new prospective, population-based cohort study suggests.
The study led by Rautiainen S. and colleagues from the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden shows women with no history of cardiovascular disease using multivitamins were 27 percent less likely to suffer heart attack compared to those who did not take multivitamins.
For the study, Rautiainen and colleagues surveyed 31,671 women with no history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 2262 women with a history of CVD, all ages 49 to 83 in Sweden for their dietary habits including use of dietary supplements.
The researchers estimated that multivitamins contained nutrients close to recommended daily allowances:
Vitamin A 0.9 mg
Vitamin C 60 mg
Vitamin D 5 ug
Vitamin E 9 mg
Thiamine 1.2 mg
Riboflavin 1.4 mg
Vitamin B-6 1.8 mg
Vitamin B-12 3 ug
Folic acid 400 ug
During a 10.2-year follow-up, 932 incident cases of myocardial infarction were identified in the CVD-free group and 269 cases in the CVD group.
In the CVD free group, using multivitamins cut the risk for heart attack by 27 percent compared with those who did not take vitamins. Taking multivitamins and other supplements together reduced the risk by 30 percent while using other non-vitamin supplements alone cut the risk by 7 percent. Use of multivitamins for five or more years reduced risk by 41 percent.
In the CVD group, use of multivitamins either alone or with other supplements was not found to be associated with reduced risk of myocardial infarction.
All findings are observational and the associations should not be interpreted as a causal relationship; in words, taking multivitamins may not actually reduce heart attack risk, even though there is most certainly an association, or link between the two.
That is, other factors may affect the reduction in risk of heart attack. For instance, it is possible that those who used multivitamins may be more health conscious and follow an overall better lifestyle, which may benefit their heart health.
The researchers acknowledged further studies are needed to confirm long-term use of multivitamins may help reduce risk of myocardial infarction or heart attack.
Source:
Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Sep 22.
Multivitamin use and the risk of myocardial infarction: a population-based cohort of Swedish women.
Rautiainen S, Akesson A, Levitan EB, Morgenstern R, Mittleman MA, Wolk A.
Divisions of Nutritional Epidemiology and Biochemical Toxicology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
By Jimmy Downs and editing by Rachel Stockton
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