Source: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/915337
Welcome to Impact Factor, your weekly dose of commentary on a new medical study. I’m Dr F. Perry Wilson.
Thirty billion dollars. That’s how much Americans spend every year on vitamins and supplements. And according to the most comprehensive analysis of their effects, most of that money is being wasted.
The “umbrella review,” appearing in the Annals of Internal Medicine,[1] is a comprehensive reporting of randomized trials of vitamins and supplements that examined their effects on cardiovascular disease and overall mortality.
Including only randomized trials was a great choice. Observational studies of vitamin and supplement usage are plagued by what’s known as “healthy user bias”: Individuals who choose to take vitamins often engage in other healthful behaviors. Time and again, vitamins that looked promising in observational studies failed in large randomized trials. I’m looking at you, vitamin D.
Now we have all of the best data surrounding vitamins and supplements in one place, which allows me to say the following: There is no high-quality evidence that any vitamin or supplement has a beneficial effect on overall mortality.
But okay, I’ll give you the details.
Watch the video here: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/915337
