People who took vitamin E supplements for an average of seven years didn't see a reduction in the rate of cancer or cardiovascular diseases, according to a study on the popular supplement. In fact, some patients who were taking 400 international units daily of vitamin E had higher rates of heart failure, in a finding that researchers called "unexpected." The study will appear in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. Many supplements contain 400 to 800 IUs of vitamin E -- a level considered safe by the Institute of Medicine. The study, led by researchers at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario, Canada, is among the largest and longest investigations of the benefits and risks of vitamin E. But representatives from the supplement industry, including the Council for Responsible Nutrition, said the findings can be applied only to older and sicker people who were part of the study and not the general population. Several years ago, some studies suggested that vitamin E might offer heart benefits and could reduce the overall risk of cancer, although some researchers recently have questioned those findings. The supplement still is being studied as a protective agent against prostate cancer, eye disorders and Alzheimer's disease. But, for now, researchers recommend that people with diabetes and vascular disease quit taking high-dose vitamin E supplements. Recently, many doctors have recommended that people quit taking a separate vitamin E supplement because most are more potent than what the body needs. Daily multivitamins contain a much smaller amount of vitamin E, ranging from 30 to 45 IUs.
