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HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA. Numerous studies suggest that a high intake of
vitamin E is associated with a reduced risk of developing coronary artery disease and
atherosclerosis. A group of Canadian researchers (Heart Outcomes Prevention
Evaluation Study) now report that vitamin E supplementation does not retard or reverse
existing heart disease. Their study involved 2545 women and 6996 men 55 years of age
or older who had been diagnosed with diabetes or cardiovascular disease (80 per cent of
the participants). The participants were given 400 IU of natural vitamin E or a placebo
daily for a mean of 4.5 years. At the end of the study period 772 of the 4761 patients
assigned to vitamin E and 739 of the 4780 patients assigned to placebos had suffered a
stroke or a heart attack or had died from cardiovascular causes. There were no
statistically significant differences between the number of heart attacks, strokes or
cardiovascular deaths in the vitamin E group and the placebo group. There also were no
significant differences between the two groups in the number of new cases of unstable
angina, congestive heart failure, complications of diabetes, cancer or death from any
cause. There were no significant adverse effects of vitamin E and no increase in
hemorrhagic stroke in the vitamin E group. The researchers conclude that vitamin E
supplementation has no beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease progression in a high-
risk population. However, they do point out that their findings might have been different if
the study period had gone beyond 4.5 years, if vitamin E had been given together with
other antioxidants, and if the study population had not been at high risk even before the
start of the study. NOTE: This study received funding from Negma, Hoechst-Marion
Roussel, AstraZeneca, King Pharmaceuticals, the Medical Research Council of Canada,
the Natural Source Vitamin E Association, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of
Ontario. Yusuf, Salim, et al. Vitamin E supplementation and cardiovascular events in high-risk patients. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 342, January 20, 2000, pp. 154- 60
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