More evidence of vitamin E safety!

More evidence of vitamin E safety! According to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition1, male smokers in a study population who had the highest blood levels of vitamin E suffered significantly fewer deaths than comparable male smokers who had lower blood levels of this essential vitamin. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health teamed up with their counterparts in Finland to review the relationship of blood levels of vitamin E (alpha tocopherol) and all-cause mortality in male smokers age 50-69 in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study. The study included 29,092 men, with follow-ups continuing over a period of up to 19 years. For those in the groups with the highest blood levels of alpha-tocopherol, there was an 18% lower risk of deaths from all causes. Included in this figure are results relating to specific causes of death, including a 21% reduction in deaths from cancer, a 19% reduction in deaths from cardiovascular disease and a whopping 30% reduction in deaths from all other causes. The report reached this conclusion: “Higher circulating concentrations of alpha-tocopherol within the normal range are associated with significantly lower total and cause-specific mortality in older male smokers.” A non-reproduced meta-analysis6 warning of the largely theoretical dangers of taking vitamin E supplements has generated a lot of concern and a large decline in vitamin E usage, though this flies in the face of other, more rigorous studies showing that higher levels of serum vitamin E are associated with lower mortality numbers.1, 3-4, 7 These largely unsubstantiated warnings may be doing a disservice to figures showing that “93% of men and 96% of women in the United States do not consume the recommended daily amount of dietary vitamin E”.2, 5 In another study, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) mortality was 62% lower among long-term users of vitamin E than among nonusers.8 Also, in a study of cancer patients done for the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, “Subgroup analysis did identify a statistically significant 9% reduction in all cause mortality” and “13% reduction in all-cancer mortality associated with supplemental vitamin E in combination with other micro-nutrients.”9 REFERENCES: Margaret E Wright, Karla A Lawson, Stephanie J Weinstein, Pirjo Pietinen, Philip R Taylor, Jarmo Virtamo and Demetrius Albanes. Higher baseline serum concentrations of vitamin E are associated with lower total and cause-specific mortality in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 84, No. 5, 1200-1207, November 2006. (Researchers were from the Nutritional Epidemiology and the Genetic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, and the Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland) Maras JE, Bermudez OI, Qiao N, Bakun PJ, Boody-Alter EL, Tucker KL. Intake of alpha-tocopherol is limited among US adults. J Am Diet Assoc2004; 104 :567 –75. Traber MG. How much vitamin E? ... Just enough! Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Nov;84(5):959-960. PMID: 17093143 Wright ME, Lawson KA, Weinstein SJ, et al. Higher baseline serum concentrations of vitamin E are associated with lower total and cause-specific mortality in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study. Am J Clin Nutr2006; 84 :1200–7. Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Dietary reference intakes for vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and carotenoids. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2000. Edgar R. Miller, III, MD, PhD; et al. High-dose vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality, a dose response meta-analysis of randomized trials. Annals of Internal Medicine: Online: Nov. 10, 2004: Print: 4 January 2005 Volume 142 Issue 1 John N Hathcock, et al. REVIEW ARTICLE: Vitamins E and C are safe across a broad range of intakes. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 81, No. 4, 736-745, April 2005. Vitamin E intake and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Ann Neurol. 2005 Jan;57(1):104-10. PMID: 15529299 Shekelle P, et al. Effect of the supplemental use of antioxidants vitamin C, vitamin E, and coenzyme Q10 for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Evid Rep Technol Assess (Summ). 2003 Oct;(75):1-3. Review. PMID: 15523748