Vitamin B Study Latest To Miss Prevention With Healthy Population – Industry
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
A recent study on vitamin B supplementation's effect on cardiovascular disease in a high-risk population is the latest example of supplement research asking the wrong question, dietary supplement industry stakeholders say
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A recent study on vitamin B supplementation's effect on cardiovascular disease in a high-risk population is the latest example of supplement research asking the wrong question, dietary supplement industry stakeholders say. In the study cited in the May 6 Journal of the American Medical Association, 5,442 women received a combination of 2.5 mg folic acid, 50 mg vitamin B-6 and 1 mg vitamin B-12 for 7.3 years in randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. Each of the women, aged 42 and older, had a history of CVD or at least three coronary risk factors. According to the study, 796 of the women experienced a CVD event - 406 in the active group and 390 in the placebo group. Reflecting their comments on previous supplement studies using high-risk populations, the Council for Responsible Nutrition and the Natural Products Association say the JAMA study should have measured preventative effects on healthy subjects (1 (Also see "Industry, Researchers Pan Study Showing Antioxidants May Up Mortality Risk" - Pink Sheet, 5 Mar, 2007.), p. 17). The study "does not answer the question of whether B vitamins can help reduce the risk of CVD in a healthy population," CRN says. Daniel Fabricant, NPA's VP of scientific and regulatory affairs, said the outcome "is predetermined by study design." "If you were going to test a vaccine, would you test it on people who were already immune to it?" Fabricant asked. "The key here is to look at different populations." The study's authors and CRN note that in observational studies, low homocysteine levels have been linked to reduced CVD risk, and the three vitamins have shown to reduce those levels in intervention studies. The combination pill "did not reduce a combined end point of total cardiovascular events among high-risk women, despite significant homocysteine lowering," concluded the researchers led by Christine M. Albert, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. - Katie Stevenson ([email protected]) |