Use of specific dietary supplements can have a positive effect on
health care costs through avoided hospitalizations related to Coronary Heart
Disease (CHD), according to a new article published in the Journal of
Dietary Supplements(1). The article, "From Science to Finance—A Tool
for Deriving Economic Implications from the Results of Dietary Supplement
Clinical Studies," published by Christopher Shanahan and Robert de
Lorimier, Ph.D., explores a potential cost-benefit analysis tool that, when
applied to a high-risk population (U.S. adults over 55 with CHD) who take
dietary supplements, specifically omega-3 fatty acid or B vitamin dietary
supplements, can result in the reduction of the individuals' odds of
experiencing a costly medical event.
"One way to control the burden of CHD costs is to minimize the
number of costly inpatient procedures," the authors said. "Many
dietary supplement products are available in the market today that have been
shown to have positive effects on heart health through associated clinical
studies...Thus, the potential decrease of total health care expenditures in the
United States is a strong argument for the daily use of dietary
supplements."
According to the authors' analysis of all U.S. adults over the age of
55 diagnosed with CHD:
• If every high-risk
person in the target population were to take omega-3 supplements at preventive
intake levels daily, there would be an average of $2.1 billion in avoided
expenditures per year and a cumulative of $16.5 billion in avoided expenditures
between 2013 – 2020
• If every high-risk
person in the target population were to take B vitamins at preventive intake
levels daily, there would be an average of $1.5 billion in avoided expenditures
per year and a cumulative of $12.1 billion in avoided expenditures between 2013
– 2020
"This is a relatively low-technology, yet smart, approach that
can be used by consumers, physicians, employers, and policymakers as a means to
reduce personal and societal health care costs," the authors concluded.
The
cost-savings model presented in this article was first presented in a report,
"Smart Prevention—Health Care Cost Savings Resulting from the Targeted Use
of Dietary Supplements," in which Frost & Sullivan conducted a
systematic review of scientific research in peer-reviewed, published studies
that looked separately at relationships between omega-3 supplement intake and
the risk of a CHD-attributed event, and B vitamins intake and the risk of a
CHD-attributed event.
The firm then projected the rates of CHD-attributed
medical events across U.S. men and women over the age of 55 with CHD and
applied a cost benefit analysis to determine the cost savings if people in this
targeted population took omega-3 supplements or B vitamin supplements at
preventive intake levels.
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