http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7910550

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Daily vitamin E supplements do not prevent cancer,
strokes or heart attacks in older people with vascular disease or
diabetes, and may increase their risk of heart failure, a study said
on Tuesday.

Millions of people take the supplements hoping for longer and
healthier lives.

"In conjunction with its lack of efficacy, the potential for harm
suggested by our findings strongly supports the view that vitamin E
supplements should not be used in patients with vascular disease or
diabetes mellitus," said the study from Canada's McMaster University
and Hamilton Health Sciences Corp.

People in the study taking vitamin E were 40 percent more likely to be
hospitalized for heart failure than those who were not taking it.

It adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests taking vitamins is
not always a fast route to good health and can even be harmful.

In a study released in November 2004, doctors at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore found that elderly people taking 200
international units or more of vitamin E a day died at a higher rate.

That research came from a review of 19 studies involving 136,000
mostly elderly patients in North America, Europe and China.

'CERTAINLY NOT THE FINAL WORD'

A group representing the supplement industry said it was important to
note that the latest study involved only older people with a history
of heart disease, stroke or diabetes.

"This is certainly not the final word on vitamin E and should not
obscure the fact that for millions of healthy people vitamin E has
many long-term benefits, including protecting against oxidative damage
in body cells and reducing harmful inflammation," the Washington-based
Council for Responsible Nutrition said.

The study's chief author, Dr. Eva Lonn, said: "In high risk people
vitamin E does not prevent cardiovascular disease, namely heart attack
and stroke, and it does not prevent cancer. Furthermore, we noticed an
increased risk of heart failure, so there is a potential for harm in
people receiving vitamin E."

The study was published in this week's Journal of the American Medical
Association. It involved thousands of people age 55 and older with
heart disease or diabetes, who were given 400 international units of
vitamin E daily -- a standard dosage -- or a placebo.

The vitamin "had no clear impact on fatal and nonfatal cancers, major
cardiovascular events or deaths," the study said.

But there was "an increase in the risk of heart failure, which is of
concern. Although this adverse effect of vitamin E was unexpected and
cannot be confirmed at this time by other trials, our data are
internally consistent."

In an editorial commenting on the Canadian study and appearing in the
same journal on Tuesday, experts at the University of Washington said
the study "effectively closes the door on the prospect of a major
protective effect of long-term exposure to this supplement, taken in
moderately high dosage, against complications of atherosclerosis and
overall cancer incidence."