Physicians' Health Study
Brigham and Women's Hospital is responsible for two landmark studies in the area of men's health: The Physicians' Health I and the Physicians' Health Study II.
The Physicians' Health Study I, established in 1982 was a randomized clinical trial designed to test two theories:
- that daily low-dose aspirin use reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease
- to evaluate the effectiveness of beta carotene to prevent skin cancer.
The Physicians' Health Study I consisted of 22,071 male physicians between the ages of 40 and 84.
The aspirin component of the study was terminated early when the study results provided statistically extreme evidence that demonstrated 325 mg of aspirin taken every other day dramatically reduced men's risk of a first heart attack.
The beta carotene component of the Physicians' Health Study I concluded in 1995. The study revealed that beta carotene had neither a beneficial nor an adverse effect in preventing skin cancer.
The Physicians' Health Study II, established in 1996, is an on-going clinical trial designed to evaluate the benefits and risks associated with beta-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C and multivitamin supplements in the primary prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and eye diseases.
The study consists of 15,000 healthy male physicians age 55 and older.
Send Feedback to: 
