Antioxidant pills don't prevent heart disease

[kebaldwin]

Antioxidant pills don't prevent heart disease

Updated Mon. Aug. 13 2007 5:47 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Taking vitamins C and E and beta carotene supplements does not seem to reduce the risk of heart attacks or heart-related death among women at high risk for heart disease, finds a study in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Diets high in fruit and vegetables have been associated with lower rates of heart disease and stroke. It's thought that the antioxidants they contain prevent harm to cells caused by exposure to oxygen, which may contribute to cardiovascular disease.

"Antioxidants scavenge free radicals and limit the damage they can cause," the authors write.

So researchers set out to find out whether taking antioxidant supplements would lower heart disease risks.

Nancy R. Cook of Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues followed 8,171 women 40 years or older (average age 60.6), from 1995 to 2005. The women, who either had a history of cardiovascular disease or three or more risk factors, were randomly assigned to take:

500 milligrams of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) or placebo every day;
600 IU (international units) of vitamin E or placebo every other day;
50 milligrams of beta carotene or placebo every other day.
During the average study period of 9.4 years, 1,450 women had one or more cardiovascular events, including 274 heart attacks, 298 strokes, 889 bypass surgeries or angioplasties and 395 cardiovascular deaths (out of a total 995 deaths).

The researchers found no benefit in preventing heart disease, heart attacks, or heart surgeries from the supplements, either alone or in combination. But they did note fewer strokes among those taking both vitamin C and vitamin E.

At the same time, the researchers found no harm in taking the supplements, except for a small increase in reports of upset stomach among those taking beta carotene.

The authors conclude: "While additional research into combinations of agents, particularly for stroke, may be of interest, widespread use of these individual agents for cardiovascular protection does not appear warranted."

A meta-analysis of almost 70 studies, published in JAMA earlier this year, found that beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E do not reduce mortality and may actually be harmful when taken in large amounts.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070813/Antioxidants_070813/20070813?hub=Health

[kebaldwin]

By Dr. Allen S. Josephs
Co-Founder & Chairman, Vitacost.com 08/16/2007

There were some interesting items recently in the medical news. In a study just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, it was noted that vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene do not appear to prevent heart disease in high risk women1. Over 8,000 women participated in this study. All women were over 40 years old and had a history of cardiovascular disease or, at least, three risk factors for the development of heart disease.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Manson, did indicate that "the study does hint of the possibility that a combination of vitamins C and E appears to reduce the risk of stroke," although it could be a result of chance, but nevertheless, it was felt that it warranted further study. It would seem from the study that, indeed, these three antioxidants are not "the magic bullet" when it comes to reducing risk of heart disease in high risk women. There was clearly no adverse effect from these three antioxidants.

My main objection to this study is that one could falsely assume that all antioxidants for all age groups and sexes are of no benefit. Nothing could be further from the truth. Obviously, women who have known cardiovascular disease or are at high risk of developing this condition should be doing preventative things such as exercise, proper diet, avoiding smoking, etc. There are a lot of other powerful antioxidants beyond the three basic vitamins studied shown to have beneficial effects for cardiovascular health. I've never been an advocate of taking only these three or one of these three antioxidants.

The other reason the study may not have been effective is the fact most people take vitamin E and beta carotene in the cheap synthetic forms purchased at drug stores and mass market discount stores. Studies have shown the natural forms of these nutrients are several times more effective antioxidants. This is why I've always recommended Nutraceutical Sciences Institute® (NSI®) Synergy multi-vitamins that contain natural vitamin E and beta carotene along with 30 to 70+ additional nutrients.

On the other side of the coin, I'd like to point out that drugs are certainly failing patients'goals and have major and even deadly side effects. Although a big to-do may be made about the relative lack of efficacy of some antioxidants in one particular study while ignoring hundreds of positive studies, the danger of drugs seems to be ignored and minimized by the medical community and media.

There was just a study published in the August 2007 edition of the European Heart Journal2. Over 15,000 patients were enrolled. Over 2,200 were initially categorized as being asymptomatic but having cardiovascular risk factors, whereas over 13,000 were said to be symptomatic. The groups were given aspirin alone or aspirin plus the drug Plavix. It appeared that those treated with both Plavix and aspirin who had a history of multiple cardiovascular risk factors, but no history of any symptoms or events, actually had an increased cardiovascular mortality of a shockingly higher 72%.

http://www.vitacost.com/newsletter/newsletter.cfm?nl=342&csrc=EM-FYH20070816:main

[Gostrydr]

Hmmm..recent studies suggest that at a dose of 800IU's of E, arterial oxidation adn LDL oxidation was reduced by 37%...

all these studies use doses that are way to low..

[Zuleikaa]

...all these studies use doses that are way to low..Oh, definitely. And I think it's deliberate!!