REPLAY: Are Your Vitamins Vital? Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Mortality and Vitamin Supplementation for Prevention of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease

Katie Wiskar, fellow in General Internal Medicine at the University of British Columbia, and Kate Shoults, general internist in the Greater Vancouver Area, are joining us on The Rounds Table this week! They are covering the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and long-term mortality, and vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids and the prevention of cancer death and cardiovascular disease.

Cardiorespiratory fitness is linked to better health – but does this always hold true that the more exercise the better? Kate covers an article on this in a cohort of patients who underwent exercise stress testing primarily for obstructive coronary artery disease. She discusses all-cause mortality as it relates to cardiorespiratory fitness and whether or not this plays a role as a prognostic variable.

It is known that vitamin D is good for bone health and osteoporosis. It has been suggested that in regions with the most sun exposure, there may be lower incidences of cancer and cardiovascular disease; however there have not been any randomized control trials on this. Moreover, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society recommends omega-3 fatty acids for patients with heart failure. What is the evidence behind this? Katie walks listeners through two articles (VITAL trial) on vitamin D supplementation and omega-3 fatty acids compared to placebo and the prevention of cancer and cancer death and major cardiovascular events.

Finally, the Good Stuff segment. Kate shares an article in The Washington Post on the importance of understanding probability and the accuracy of tests that we rely so heavily on in medicine. Katie shares a blog post that summarizes the top 50 innovative ideas in medicine brought forth at a four-day gathering called the Exponential Medicine 2018.

Like what you hear? Rate us on iTunes! Chat with us on Twitter at @roundstable and tweet at Katie Wiskar @katiewiskar.

Interested in helping us evaluate our podcast episodes? We’re currently recruiting a panel of residents to serve as regular reviewers for the show. If you’re interested, email wkwong@qmed.ca.