Centrum Silver Multivitamin Study: Find Out What the Research Discovered

[Borg]

Centrum multivitamin has been running a series of commercials that run something like this:

My wife takes Centrum Silver. I’ve been on the fence about it.
Then I read an article about a study that looked at the long-term health benefits of taking multivitamins.
They used Centrum Silver for the study.
Sooo… I guess my wife was right.

Sooo... Why don't you tell us what the study found? Was there a benefit?

 

[wukunlin]

Would be interesting if we can see those articles... my whole family takes them and they repeatedly tried to make me take them too.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

This appears to be the study
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00270647

 

[Evo]

There are no conclusive results.

Purpose (of study)was to determine the following.

The use of vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene, and/or multivitamins may keep cancer, cardiovascular disease, eye diseases, or cognitive decline from occurring. This randomized clinical trial studied vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene, and/or multivitamins to see how well they work compared with placebos in preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, eye disease, and cognitive decline in male doctors aged 50 years and older

But no results have been posted.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/results/NCT00270647

So, basically, the ad is misleading. Centrum gave the researchers vitamins for part of the study, the study was not about Centrum or about its efficacy, and nothing has been reported. Of course they made no claims that vitamins are helpful, just that they were included in a study. Scumbags, IMO.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

So, basically, the ad is misleading.

Yeah it is really gross how the marketing dept just jumps on this looking for a quick buck.

 

[Evo]

Yeah it is really gross how the marketing dept just jumps on this looking for a quick buck.

And people will fall for it. Which, of course, is why Centrum wanted to donate vitamins.

Not that there is anything wrong with their product, it's just scummy advertising tactics.

 

[Danger]

they repeatedly tried to make me take them too.

You must be doing something right; your coat is so shiny white and your nose appears to be appropriately moist...

 

[Borg]

This appears to be the study
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00270647

Thanks for finding that Greg. I remembered that a study came out recently that basically said that there was little to no benefit but a one hour search came up empty.

And people will fall for it. Which, of course, is why Centrum wanted to donate vitamins.

Not that there is anything wrong with their product, it's just scummy advertising tactics.

The illogical conclusion of the ad has been annoying me for weeks. It reeks of being a modern day snake oil salesman.

 

[Bacle2]

Seems reasonable to assume you're being lied to as a default. You have, e.g., Lumosity, Baby Einstein, neither with evidence to support it, yet both claiming their products work. Cigarrettes where described at one point as actually being good for one's health.

 

[wukunlin]

You must be doing something right; your coat is so shiny white and your nose appears to be appropriately moist...

not only that. I'm doing an MSc unlike the Alaskan Malamute next door who sleeps all day and bark at the stars at night so no one can sleep.

 

[Danger]

Well that's just rude of him.

Hey, now! Why don't you build some sort of noisy device to keep him awake all day? Then maybe he'll shut the hell up and sleep at night. (I'm thinking compressor hooked to an ultrasonic whistle, so humans won't know about it. )