Clinical Study Title:
Multivitamin use and colorectal cancer incidence in a US cohort: does timing matter?

Plain English Summary:

Multivitamins are often associated with various health benefits such as reducing the risk of cancer. In this study, 145, 260 people were asked about their current and previous use of multivitamins. Participants were also asked about how often they used the multivitamins, whether usage was almost every day (4 or more times a week) or less frequent. Of these participants, there were 797 cases of colorectal cancer. After examining the habits of participants in regard to usage of multivitamins, the researchers concluded that an immediate effect of multivitamins was unclear. However, those participants who had used multivitamins frequently in the previous ten years were at a reduced risk of colorectal cancer. This suggests that continued frequent use of a daily multivitamin will reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

Authors

Jacobs EJ. Connell CJ. Chao A. McCullough ML. Rodriguez C. Thun MJ. Calle EE.

Institution

Department of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA 30329-4251, USA.

Country of Publication

United States

Source

American Journal of Epidemiology. 158(7):621-8, 2003 Oct 1