Vitamin-D and Omega-3 Supplements Lower Cancer and Heart Attack Risk, Finds Study

Akshay Naik 26 September 2019

Adding to the debate of whether nutrition supplements are beneficial, a new study has found that taking vitamin-D supplements and omega-3 could prevent cancer and heart attacks.

North American Menopause Society (NAMS) conducted the largest clinical trial—Vitamin-D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL)—to test whether vitamin-D or fish oil can effectively prevent cancer or cardiovascular disease. The study involved nearly 26,000 men and women from the US and took five years to complete.

Fish oils are well known for their omega-3 fatty acid and rich content of vitamin-A and D which have numerous health benefits. On the other hand, vitamin-D is best absorbed by the body when taken along with oil or fats. Prior studies have yielded mixed results of fish oil and vitamin-D in providing protection against cardiovascular diseases.

The results from this new study have shown promising results for certain outcomes. For instance, while omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) showed only a small, but non-significant, reduction in the primary cardiovascular endpoint of major cardiovascular events, they were associated with significant reductions in heart attacks. The greatest treatment benefit was seen in people with dietary fish intake below the cohort median of 1.5 servings per week but not in those whose intake was above that level. Also, African-Americans appeared to experience the greatest risk reductions.

Additionally, researchers also observed that although vitamin-D supplementation did not reduce major cardiovascular events or total cancer incidence, it was associated with a statistically significant reduction in total cancer mortality among those participating in the trial for at least two years. The effect of vitamin-D in reducing cancer death is also confirmed by updated meta-analyses of vitamin-D trials to date.

“The pattern of findings suggests a complex balance of benefits and risks for each intervention and points to the need for additional research to determine which individuals may be most likely to derive a net benefit from these supplements,” said Dr JoAnn Manson, the lead author of the study from Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

“With heart disease and cancer representing the most significant health threats to women, it is imperative that we continue to study the viability of options that prevent these diseases and help women survive them,” says Dr Stephanie Faubion, medical director of NAMS.

The latest VITAL findings will be presented during the annual meeting of NAMS in Chicago later this week.

Comments