POEMs and Tips

From Other Journals

Role of Vitamin E in Preventing Cancer or Cardiovascular Disease

Am Fam Physician. 2005 Nov 15;72(10):2087.

Clinical Question: Is vitamin E effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer among healthy women?

Setting: Population-based

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial (double-blinded)

Allocation: Concealed

Synopsis: Evidence from observational trials suggests that vitamin E may be effective in preventing cardiovascular disease and cancer in women. In the Women’s Health Study, investigators randomized 39,876 healthy women who were 45 years or older to receive: (1) 600 IU of natural-source vitamin E every other day, (2) placebo and 100 mg of aspirin every other day, or (3) placebo only in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Persons blinded to treatment group assignment assessed outcomes. Follow-up occurred for an average of 10.1 years in more than 97 percent of the patients.

Using intention-to-treat analysis, investigators found that vitamin E did not significantly reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or hemorrhagic stroke. Although vitamin E slightly reduced the risk of cardiovascular death (number needed to treat for 10.1 years = 586; 95% confidence interval, 306 to 6,058), all-cause mortality was not significantly reduced. Vitamin E did not significantly decrease the risk of any cancer, including breast, lung, and colorectal cancers. Cancer mortality was not significantly lower in any group.

Bottom Line: Vitamin E does not reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease or cancer or the rate of total mortality among healthy women 45 years or older. (Level of Evidence: 1b)

Copyright © 2005 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP. Contact afpserv@aafp.org for copyright questions and/or permission requests.