Antioxidants, which have been trumpeted as wonder vitamins on product labels from skin treatments to tomato juice, may actually be harmful for people taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, according to new research released Thursday.
Tens of millions of Americans take supplements that include antioxidants--a category that includes Vitamin C, Vitamin E, beta-carotene and selenium. A recent survey by Prevention magazine suggested the number of people taking the supplements may be as high as 80 million.
Since the early 1990s, some doctors have recommended vitamin supplements as one arm of a strategy to combat heart disease. The recommendation stemmed from a study showing that people who took high doses of Vitamin E suffered 30% fewer heart attacks than those who did not.
But the new research shows that antioxidant vitamins like Vitamin E and beta-carotene "just haven't cut the mustard," says Dr. B. Greg Brown, an author of the study. In fact, he added, patients who attempt to manage their heart disease with antioxidant vitamins "are actually doing themselves a disservice."
Dr. Lewis H. Kuller, a University of Pittsburgh physician not involved in the study, agrees: "We have a lot of very good therapies for preventing heart disease, and people should stick to those."
The American Heart Assn., which published the new research in its journal Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, recommends that people not take any vitamin supplements, including antioxidants, and that they instead get all their nutrients from a balanced diet.
The new study, conducted at the University of Washington, followed 153 patients with coronary artery disease for one year as they underwent therapy with cholesterol-lowering drugs, antioxidant vitamin supplements, a combination of both, or a placebo. Patients who received the antioxidants took a dose commonly found in vitamin supplements sold over the counter.
One aim of the cholesterol-lowering drugs is to increase the level of high-density lipoprotein, the so-called "good cholesterol," in a patient's blood. As expected, people taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs enjoyed a rise in HDL levels. But when the drugs were combined with antioxidant therapy, the beneficial effects were blunted. Patients who took only the antioxidant supplements experienced no improvement in cholesterol levels.
