Jury out on vitamins' use against heart disease, cancer

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There is not enough evidence to recommend that people take multivitamins or single or paired nutrients to prevent cancer or heart disease, according to a government-backed panel. But there is enough evidence to recommend that people do not take beta-carotene or vitamin E to prevent those conditions, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) said. The final recommendations, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, largely mirror draft guidelines that were released by the USPSTF in November (see Reuters Health story of November 11, 2013 here: http://reut.rs/1e1ilDe.) They do not apply to people with known vitamin deficiencies or chronic illnesses. "Because so much money is spent and so many people think they're doing themselves good by taking multivitamins, we really do need research to find out if that is the case," Dr. Virginia Moyer, who chairs the USPSTF, told Reuters Health.



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