JAMA Researchers Recommend Vitamin Supplements

JAMA Researchers Recommend Vitamin Supplements

BOSTON--In a research review published in the June19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (287,23:3116-26, 2002) (www.jama.com), Harvardresearchers reported finding a link between inadequate intakes of certainvitamins and the increased risk for chronic conditions such as coronary heartdisease, cancer and osteoporosis.

The researchers--Kathleen Fairfield, M.D., DrPH, and RobertFletcher, M.D.--searched MEDLINE (a database of 11 million indexed journalcitations) for English-language articles published between 1966 and 2002 thatpertained to vitamins and chronic disease. Narrowing the search down to thosenutrients that were considered "clinically important," the researchershoned in on data surrounding nine vitamins and their links to chronic disease.

Vitamins B9 (folic acid) and B12 (cobalamin) were found to benecessary for homocysteine metabolism and reducing the risk of coronary heartdisease. Vitamin E decreased the risk of prostate cancer, and vitamin D takenwith calcium decreased the occurrence of bone fractures. However, it was foundthat taking excessive amounts of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A may leadto more problems than solutions.

They also found that the elderly, vegans, alcohol-dependentindividuals and those suffering from vitamin malabsorption were at especiallyhigh risk for inadequate vitamin intake.

In a letter accompanying the research review, Fairfield andFletcher reported that suboptimal intake of vitamins should be seen as a riskfactor for chronic diseases, especially in the elderly. In addition, they saidmost people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins through diet alone."Pending strong evidence of effectiveness from randomized trials, itappears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements," the authorswrote. "Physicians should make specific efforts to learn about theirpatients' use of vitamins to ensure that they are taking vitamins theyshould."