Vitamin E no help, say scientists

Taking vitamin E and beta-carotene supplements every day will not reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke and could even be harmful, say American scientists.

Their analysis of clinical trials into the use of the two supplements found no protective effect against cardiovascular disease.

"Vitamin E just does not do anything in people who have coronary disease or who are at high risk for coronary disease, and beta-carotene may actually cause harm," said Dr Marc Penn, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio.

Taking the vitamin supplements slightly increased the risk of dying from the illness.

Beta-carotene was linked to a 0.4 per cent increase in all causes of death and a 0.3 per cent rise in cardiovascular deaths.

Doctors had been recommending the vitamins to patients who had a high risk of cardiovascular disease.

In a report in The Lancet medical journal, Dr Penn and his colleagues said there was no evidence that the supplements were effective in reducing the chances of suffering from the illness.

The research follows a warning from Britain's Food Standards Agency that big doses of vitamin C, calcium and iron could cause diarrhoea.

The agency is considering a ban on chromium picolinate.

Dr Penn recommended that clinical studies of beta-carotene be discontinued because of its risks.

"What worries us is that there may be physicians using these things instead of statin therapy, which has been clearly documented to save lives."

- REUTERS