50 years of research into the supposed benefits of taking vitamin E has extolled its antioxidant potential to offer a variety of potential health benefits, including reducing the risk of Alzheimer's, cancer and heart disease.
Now a new study, Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation - The Ongoing Outcomes study (HOPE-TOO), published this week, contains unexpected and worrying issues with vitamin E and heart health.
The study unexpectedly found patients over age 55 with heart disease, stroke or diabetes plus at least one other cardiovascular risk factor, who took vitamin E supplements, experienced an increased risk of heart failure but cannot be confirmed at this time by other trials. This confuses the debate as two previous studies in 1993 and 1996, came to the opposite conclusion.
The Cambridge Heart Antioxidants Study (CHAOS) concluded there was a decrease in deaths from heart failure in participants taking vitamin E supplements who had coronary artery disease. The Vitamin E Consumption and the Risk of Coronary Disease in Women study, conducted by
50 years of research into the supposed benefits of taking vitamin E has extolled its antioxidant potential to offer a variety of potential health benefits, including reducing the risk of Alzheimer's, cancer and heart disease.
, evaluated more than 80,000 nurses and found a 41% reduction in the risk of heart disease in nurses who took vitamin E for two years.