Daily HealthBeat Tip

What good are multivitamins?

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A lot of us take multivitamins, figuring they'll help to keep us from getting sick.

So do they?

A scientific advisory committee for the National Institutes of Health looked into that question and concluded that, in general... it's a good question. The consensus is that there's a lot scientists don't know.

Michael McGinnis, a senior scholar at the independent Institute of Medicine, chaired the panel:

"Overall, we find that the available data are insufficient to make a firm recommendation for or against their use in the general population." (nine seconds)

That doesn't mean stop taking multivitamins if you like them � it's up to you.

And the panel supports multivitamins for people with special needs � such as folic acid for women who could get pregnant, because folic acid can prevent some severe forms of birth defects.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: June 26, 2006

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