Study Says Vitamins Are Useless

According to a five-year study on 20,000 people by Oxford University scientists, over-the-counter vitamin supplements C and E, and beta-carotene (which the body converts into vitamin A) do not protect against heart attacks, cancers or other serious diseases. However, the same report suggests that 10,000 lives a year in the U.K. could be saved with wider use of drugs that cut cholesterol, reports Sky News (www.sky.com).

The five-year Heart Protection Study revealed drugs called "statins" could help prevent heart disease and high cholesterol. Statins reduce levels cholesterol in the blood and also cut other fats that contribute to heart disease.

Currently in the U.K., statins are given to fewer than one in 20 people older than 40 - mostly men with heart disease or high cholesterol. Doctors are calling for new guidelines on the treatment of patients with the drugs.

Moderator Comment: What would happen if the results of this study were correct?

The supplement business is already in a bit of a funk having leveled off from the huge gains it had been posting in the '90s. This might not kill the vitamin market (we're sure refuting research can be found) but it certainly will not help attract new consumers to the market. [George Anderson - Moderator]

• Vitamin Pills 'Don't Work' - Sky.com