Effect of combined folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 on cancer risk in women: a randomized trial

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

To evaluate the effect of combined folic acid, vitamin B(6), and vitamin B(12) treatment on cancer risk in women at high risk for cardiovascular disease.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, women only.

In the Women's Antioxidant and Folic Acid Cardiovascular Study, 5442 US female health professionals aged 42 years or older, with preexisting cardiovascular disease or 3 or more coronary risk factors, were randomly assigned to receive either a daily combination of folic acid, vitamin B(6), and vitamin B(12) or a matching placebo.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), giving a reference point.

They were treated for 7.3 years from April 1998 through July 31, 2005.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Antioxidants, Breast Neoplasms, Cardiovascular Diseases, Dietary Supplements, Folic Acid, Neoplasms and Risk.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12).

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2008 (JAMA), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) compound page.