Neither vitamin D nor fish oil supplements acted to prevent cancer or serious heart-related problems in healthy older people according to a widely-anticipated study.

The research, presented over the weekend at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago, is believed to be the strongest and most definitive examination yet.  It followed 26,000 patients and tracked them for serious heart problems defined heart attacks, stroke, and other heart-related deaths.

The study also suggests there's no reason for people to undergo routine blood tests for vitamin D levels, because it made no difference in their risk of cancer or serious heart issues.  Even people who began the study with clear vitamin D deficiency got no benefit from taking the supplements, which provided 2,000 international units a day.

These will be stunning findings for many, because not only are supplements big business in the United States, but so has blood testing for vitamin D become a lucrative new market for laboratories.  The American taxpayers are footing the bill for this, as US doctors ordered more than 10 million vitamin D tests for patients covered by the elder healthcare program Medicare:  US$365 Million in the year 2016, a 547 percent increase from 2007.

While the results suggest that there is a lot of money being wasted, one of the study's authors says the research also showed that fish oil or vitamin D supplements have any side effects - so there may not be a reason to quit taking them imiediately.