Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Journal of the American Medical Association, 327(23), 2334–2347. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.15650 Dr. Elizabeth O’Connor et al
Points
- This review, tasked to find links between vitamin or mineral supplementation and the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer, spanned 84 studies spread across randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies across several medical literature databases
- The intake of vitamin and mineral supplements was linked to little or no benefit in preventing cancer and cardiovascular disease
- Multivitamin intake was associated with a small beneficial impact on the incidence of cancer
Summary
This review, reported by the United States Preventative Services Task Force, gave updates on presented evidence on the relationship between taking vitamin and mineral supplements and the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The two diseases are of interest given that both are the leading causes of death in the US. To accommodate this, the authors included 84 studies across randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies concerning vitamin or mineral intake among adults with no cardiovascular diseases or cancer from MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase between the years 2013 and 2022. Key points to consider include factors like cancer incidence, cardiovascular disease events, and all-cause mortality, among others.
Pooled analyses show a significant link between multivitamin use and a lower cancer incidence of any kind (OR, 0.93 [95%CI, 0.87-0.99]; 4 RCTs [n=48 859]; ARD range, −0.2% to −1.2%); likewise, the use of multivitamins was also found to be significantly linked to a lower incidence of lung cancer (OR, 0.75 [95%CI, 0.58-0.95]; 2 RCTs [n=36 052]; ARD, 0.2%). Beta carotene, meanwhile, was found to be significantly linked to increased risks of both lung cancer (OR, 1.20 [95%CI, 1.01-1.42]; 4 RCTs [n=94 830]; ARD range, −0.1% to 0.6%) and death from cardiovascular disease (OR, 1.10 [95%CI, 1.02-1.19]; 5 RCTs [n=94 506] ARD range, −0.8%to 0.8%).
Overall, the use of multivitamins and mineral supplements had little effect on the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and death. Likewise, the use of multivitamins themselves was also found to have a small beneficial impact on the incidence of cancer. For those who sit at a high risk of lung cancer, the intake of beta carotene was associated with a heightened risk of lung cancer, among other undesirable outcomes.
Link to the article: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2793447
References O’Connor, E. A., Evans, C. V., Ivlev, I., Rushkin, M. C., Thomas, R. G., Martin, A., & Lin, J. S. (2022). Vitamin and mineral supplements for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer: Updated evidence report and systematic review for the us preventive services task force. JAMA, 327(23), 2334–2347. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.15650
