Vitamin Supplements Reduce Risk of Death, Study Finds

Taking a multivitamin, vitamin E, or vitamin C supplements can lead to modest reductions in the risk of death.

Gaia Pocobelli, PhD, and her colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, analyzed the vitamin supplement habits of 77,719 middle-age and elderly people. About two-thirds of the subjects had taken multivitamins, and about half had taken either vitamin E or vitamin C supplements.

Pocobelli found that the people who took multivitamin supplements the most often -- six to seven times each week for at least 10 years -- had a 16 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

People who regularly took vitamin E supplements had a 28 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, those who took vitamin C supplements had a slightly lower risk of dying from cancer and other causes.

Reference: Pocobelli G, Peters U, Kristal AR, et al. Use of supplements of multivitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin E in relation to mortality. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2009;170:472-483.