In order to put to rest confusion about antioxidant supplements, researchers at Tel Aviv University conducted a comprehensive analysis of vitamin E supplements, finding they might do more harm than good for some people. The researchers applied a new approach, measuring quality of life to find that taking vitamin E supplements, for some individuals, might shorten a healthy and quality life by as much as four months.

According to Professor Dov Lichtenberg of TAU’s Sackler School of Medicine, “There were so many conflicting reports about Vitamin E and its effect on various diseases, particularly heart disease that we wanted to set the record straight.”

Analyzing data from 300,000 individuals in clinical studies from the US, Europe and Israel, the researchers found “that the average quality-adjusted life years (QALY) of Vitamin E-supplemented individuals was 0.30 less than that of untreated people. This, of course, does not mean that everybody consuming Vitamin E shortens their life by almost 4 months. But on average, the quality-adjusted longevity is lower for vitamin-treated people. This says something significant.”

Next, the researchers hope to find out what benefits, if any, vitamin E could have for specific groups. The idea that antioxidants could prevent heart disease was introduced more than 20 years ago, and studies have been so conflicting, the scientists used quality-adjusted-life-years (QALY) as an index that led them to the findings that vitamin E might cause more harm than good.

“Consider a participant who was healthy during the first 10 out of 20 years of the study, but then suffered a stroke and became dependent on others throughout the following 10 years. The QALY during the first 10 years of healthy life is 10, but after the stroke the quality of life is only half of what this person had before. Therefore, the second decade is considered the equivalent of merely 5 years of healthy life and in sum a person’s QALY is 15”, explains Dr. Pinchuk.

For now, it is best to leave vitamin E supplements on the shelf, and focus on whole foods for better health. The scientists hope to also conduct studies to better understand the role of antioxidants for fighting disease by exploring their chemical structure. Vitamin E may not harm everyone, but the benefits of taking the supplements could not be found in the study. The researchers concluded that vitamin E might even cause more harm than good.

Source: Tel Aviv University

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by Kathleen Blanchard RN on 01. Jan, 2010 in Health News