Vitamin supplements and CVD: What you need to know

According to a recent report from the US Preventive Services Task Force, between 2007 and 2010 49% of adults used at least one dietary supplement. However, data regarding the benefits and harms of supplementation on CVD prevention remain inconclusive, according to experts.

Cardiology Today spoke with key opinion leaders, including Virginia A. Moyer, MD, MPH, chair of the USPSTF; Linda V. Van Horn, PhD, RD, an AHA spokeswoman; Keith C. Ferdinand, MD, FACC, FAHA, of Tulane University and chair of the National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention; and C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, FACC, FAHA, Cardiology Today Editorial Board member; to better understand the evidence available on the use of vitamins, multivitamins and minerals for CVD prevention. Click here to read the full story.

Virginia A. Moyer

Based on these interviews and the current literature, here is what you need to know.

Vitamin D

According to data from a series of analyses published in The Lancet, vitamin D supplementation does not appear to prevent MI, stroke, cancer or bone fractures, and results of future trials are unlikely to yield different conclusions. However, researchers from the United Kingdom reported more recently that there is insufficient evidence to conclude whether vitamin D supplementation is beneficial in patients with CAD.

Although unrelated to CVD risk, vitamin D supplementation is recommended by the USPSTF for older individuals at risk for falls.

Omega-3 fatty acids

Fatty acid and fish oil supplements have garnered speculation about health benefits, and the research has proved inconclusive or unsupportive of claims related to benefits for CVD prevention.

According to a new systemic review and meta-analysis, supplementation with fatty acids and dietary fatty acid intake were not associated with reduction in risk for coronary events.

Similarly, supplementation with two long-chain omega-3 fatty acids or two macular xanthophylls did not reduce the risk for CVD in older people in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2.

Multivitamins

Results from a systematic review conducted by researchers for the USPSTF were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in November 2013. The review found insufficient evidence on the efficacy of vitamin and mineral supplements for the prevention of CVD, cancer or related mortality.

“We found no consistent evidence that the included supplements affected CVD, cancer or all-cause mortality in healthy individuals without known nutritional deficiencies,” they wrote. “The certainty of this result is tempered, however, by the fact that few fair- or good-quality studies are available for all supplements except vitamin E and beta carotene.”

Beta carotene, vitamin E

In its review, the task force concluded that beta carotene and vitamin E do not reduce the risk for either CVD or cancer among healthy individuals. According to the panel, current evidence suggests beta carotene supplementation increases the risk for lung cancer in at-risk individuals. They also concluded that vitamin E supplementation is associated with little or no significant harm. Therefore, the panel recommends against the use of supplementation with vitamin E and beta carotene to prevent CVD or cancer.