Vitamin E

A decade ago, vitamin E earned a reputation as a potent heart disease- and cancer-preventing antioxidant. Studies showed a lower risk of heart disease in people who took vitamin E supplements or got lots of the vitamin from their diets, and animal and lab research suggested that the vitamin prevented fat from building up in blood vessels. The essential, fat-soluble vitamin is crucial for healthy eyes and skin and a robust immune system.

Taking vitamin E and selenium supplements not only failed to prevent prostate cancer in men, a new study finds that daily vitamin E pills appear to raise the risk of the disease. The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. , is yet another reminder that the effect of dietary supplements on health isn't always rewarding or even innocuous. The SELECT study (which stands for Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial) began in 2001 and recruited more than 35,000 men age 50 and older at 400 study sites nationwide.

Large doses of vitamin E -- widely touted as an elixir of youth -- do not protect against heart attacks and cancer and might actually raise the risk of heart failure in people with diabetes or clogged arteries, researchers have found. The study, published in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn., is just the latest to cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of vitamin E supplements and other antioxidants.

A decade ago, vitamin E earned a reputation as a potent heart disease- and cancer-preventing antioxidant. Studies showed a lower risk of heart disease in people who took vitamin E supplements or got lots of the vitamin from their diets, and animal and lab research suggested that the vitamin prevented fat from building up in blood vessels. The essential, fat-soluble vitamin is crucial for healthy eyes and skin and a robust immune system.

Vitamin E pills reduced prostate cancer risk by a third and the disease's death rate by 41% in a study of thousands of smokers, researchers report. The same study, in Finland, found that a form of vitamin A had no effect on reducing cancer. "There may be a pattern developing of some kind of broad cancer preventive effect from vitamin E," said Dr. Demetrius Albanes, a National Cancer Institute researcher and co-author of the study.

A University of California anatomy professor researching reproduction in rats discovered vitamin E in 1922. In humans, the powerful antioxidant is essential for healthy eyes and skin, as well as a strong immune system. Vitamin E exists as eight individual compounds abundant in a variety of fruits and green vegetables, including avocados, mangos and turnip greens.

In pill form, antioxidants may not do much to prevent Parkinson's disease, new research indicates, but at least one shows promise when eaten in food. When researchers analyzed the food frequency questionnaires and supplement records of more than 100,000 participants in an ongoing health study, they discovered that getting large amounts of antioxidants from pills, even when combined with food sources, didn't help prevent Parkinson's disease.

One or two capsules of Vitamin E daily can at least partially reverse the decline in immunity that normally occurs during aging and thereby might make it easier for the elderly to fight off disease, a researcher from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Los Angeles. Department of Agriculture nutritionist Simin N.

A diet rich in vitamin E foods such as nuts and whole grains can lower the risk of lung cancer among smokers by about 20%, a new study says. In the study of more than 29,000 male smokers in Finland, researchers found that those who had high blood levels of alpha-tocopherol, the main form of vitamin E, reduced their incidence of lung cancer by 19% to 23%.

In the latest of a remarkable string of new findings about the prevention or slowing of Alzheimer's disease, researchers report today that either vitamin E or a common anti-Parkinson's drug can significantly delay the deterioration of daily functioning caused by the debilitating disease. It is the first time that researchers have been able to slow the progression of the disease in patients who have already developed significant symptoms.

Vitamin E supplements, taken by millions of Americans as a potential cure-all, do not prevent heart disease and stroke in most women, but may provide some protection among those over age 65, according to a major new study involving nearly 40,000 women. Vitamin E capsules are widely recommended by cardiologists for heart disease prevention because such antioxidants are thought to prevent the buildup of plaque in arteries.

Large doses of vitamin E -- widely touted as an elixir of youth -- do not protect against heart attacks and cancer and might actually raise the risk of heart failure in people with diabetes or clogged arteries, researchers have found. The study, published in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn., is just the latest to cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of vitamin E supplements and other antioxidants.

High doses of vitamin E, often viewed as a panacea for cancer, heart disease and other illnesses, actually increase the risk of death slightly among the elderly and infirm, researchers said Wednesday. A study found that the increased risk of death was small, about 5% for those who had taken larger doses of the vitamin for at least five years. But vitamin E is taken by so many people -- an estimated 25% of the American population -- that even a small increase is significant, the researchers said.

Although the flu has gotten all the publicity thanks to the unexpected shortage of this year's vaccine, influenza is just one of many diseases that pounce during the winter months. The good news: There are plenty of other ways -- such as eating right -- to help reduce the risk of annoying and sometimes dangerous illnesses. And none of these measures involves waiting in long lines, winning a vaccine lottery or taking a quick trip to Canada.

Vitamin E supplements ward off colds in the elderly and may help some seniors avoid upper-respiratory infections that can prove deadly, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. In a study of 617 nursing home patients aged 65 or older, those who swallowed a vitamin E supplement daily had significantly fewer common colds and a 20% overall lower risk of catching a cold, the researchers found.

The disease-fighting ability of vitamin E and beta carotene has taken another hit. An analysis of 15 clinical trials found that not only do the two supplements fail to prevent heart disease, but there's also a slight chance that beta carotene can increase the risk. The analysis follows a large Finnish study, reported several years ago, that found that beta carotene supplements actually increased the risk of lung cancer in heavy smokers.

Vitamin E made a standard cancer drug far more powerful than usual against colon cancer in mice, and another substance let the drug wipe tumors out entirely, scientists reported. It is too soon to recommend taking vitamin E during treatment because there have been no studies done on humans, said researcher Dr. Robert J. Coffey, a professor of medicine and cell biology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

A daily, 200-milligram dose of vitamin E, already believed to protect older people from heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's, also boosts the immune system, lowering the incidence of colds and other infections, a new study found. The research in the May 7 Journal of the American Medical Assn. suggests that older people ought to take about 20 times more vitamin E a day than the current recommended daily allowance of 8 to 10 milligrams, authors said. Researchers at the U.S.

A University of California anatomy professor researching reproduction in rats discovered vitamin E in 1922. In humans, the powerful antioxidant is essential for healthy eyes and skin, as well as a strong immune system. Vitamin E exists as eight individual compounds abundant in a variety of fruits and green vegetables, including avocados, mangos and turnip greens.

In pill form, antioxidants may not do much to prevent Parkinson's disease, new research indicates, but at least one shows promise when eaten in food. When researchers analyzed the food frequency questionnaires and supplement records of more than 100,000 participants in an ongoing health study, they discovered that getting large amounts of antioxidants from pills, even when combined with food sources, didn't help prevent Parkinson's disease.