Does a Daily Multivitamin Provide a Mortality Benefit?

 But this?

Can a multivitamin keep your brain healthy?

A new study suggests that a daily multivitamin might improve memory in older adults. 

The latest here:

Does a Daily Multivitamin Provide a Mortality Benefit?

Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, reviewing Loftfield E et al. JAMA Netw Open 2024 Jun Barnard ND et al. JAMA Netw Open 2024 Jun

This large cohort study showed no benefit, adding to mostly negative prior studies.

Despite mostly negative results from prior studies about mortality benefits of multivitamins, multivitamin use continues to be ubiquitous and is viewed by many patients as a cheap, safe, and easy way to improve dietary quality and health outcomes. Investigators addressed what they considered to be inadequacies of prior research by pooling data from three large observational cohort studies with nearly 400,000 participants (median age, 62) who were followed for as long as 27 years (mean, 20 years); these studies included data on diet, self-reported multivitamin use, and mortality.

In adjusted analyses, daily multivitamin use was associated with a very small, but significant (4%), higher all-cause mortality risk. Cause-specific mortality from heart disease, cancer, or cerebrovascular disease was not different in multivitamin users and nonusers.

Comment

As editorialists note, selective benefits might accrue from specific components of multivitamins, such as slowing progression of age-related macular degeneration or addressing deficiencies associated with bariatric surgery. A recent study showed some benefit from multivitamin use in slowing age-related cognitive decline (Am J Clin Nutr 2024; 119:692), although many limitations of that study have been noted. Results from the current study — casting some doubt on a mortality benefit of multivitamin use — are unlikely to change the feelings of reassurance that many patients gain. Nevertheless, we can share these findings with patients who ask us whether they should be taking daily multivitamins.

Citations

Loftfield E et al. Multivitamin use and mortality risk in 3 prospective US cohorts. JAMA Netw Open 2024 Jun; 7:e2418729. (https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18729)

Barnard ND et al. The limited value of multivitamin supplements. JAMA Netw Open 2024 Jun; 7:e2418965. (https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18965)