Volunteer for VITAL

If you are a woman at least 65 or older or a man 60 or older, consider volunteering for the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL).  You must have NO history of heart attack, stroke, or cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer). 

The goal: to find out if Vitamin D3 (2,000 IU a day) and EPA plus DHA (1,000 mg a day total) can lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other illnesses.

“It's an opportunity to make an enormous contribution and to get important answers”, says lead investigator JoAnn Manson of the Harvard Medical School.

You will get pills and forms by mail, so you don't need to visit Boston to participate.  If you qualify, you will be assigned to take Vitamin D, fish oil, both, or a placebo, but you won't know which you are getting.  You'll still be able to take some vitamins on your own.  “We will ask people to limit Vitamin D supplements to about 800 IU a day”, says Manson.  “But you wouldn't be able to take fish oil on your own since that would dilute our results.”

Are these supplements safe?

“We will be doing extensive safety monitoring - checking hospitalizations, clinic visits, symptoms, bleeding problems, and other adverse event outcomes”, says Manson.  “But we don't expect any safety concerns with these doses.”  The Institute of Medicine considers 2,000 IU of Vitamin D safe, and the American Heart Association recommends 1,000 mg a day of EPA and DHA for people with heart disease.

To learn more, go to www.vitalstudy.org or call 1-800-388-3963.