The idea that vitamin supplements can prevent heart disease has failed to win support in a major study, a conference was being told today.
Researchers studied the impact of vitamin E and C on a group of nearly 15,000 male doctors.
The study, reported to the conference of the American Heart Association, found that vitamins made no difference to rates of heart attack or heart disease over an eight year period – during which 1,661 men died.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School said laboratory research had suggested they might help prevent disease by preventing damage to tissue.
Other research revealed at the conference in New Orleans reveals that:
- mp3 music players are dangerous to patients with pacemakers and implantable defibrillators. Researchers in Boston warned that headphones must be kept at least 1.2 inches from a heart device;
- flu vaccines can help prevent the formation of dangerous blood clots, according to French researchers. Researcher Professor Joseph Emmerich, of the University Paris Descartes, studied nearly 1,500 patients and found that flu vaccination reduced the risk of developing deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism by 26 per cent;
- regular aspirin may not help prevent heart disease in patients with diabetes. Japanese researchers studied some 2,539 patients with type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes.
The researchers, from Kumamoto University, said patients over the age of 65 who took aspirin enjoyed reduced rates of heart disease – but not to a significant extent.
The research will also be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the researchers say more work is needed to settle the matter.
JAMA. 2008;300 [18]: 2134-2141
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