Higher Serum Vitamin E Levels Lower Mortality Risk

After an earlier poorly reported study suggested vitamin E supplements could possibly increase all-cause mortality, researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Public Health Institute of Finland found higher serum levels of vitamin E may reduce the risk of total and cause-specific mortality.

The prospective cohort study involved 29,092 Finnish male smokers aged 50 to 69 who participated in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene (ATBC) Cancer Prevention Study; researchers measured fasting serum alpha-tocopherol and examined its association with total and cause-specific mortality.

Only 10 percent of participants reported use of vitamin E supplements at baseline. During 19 years of follow-up, 13,380 deaths were reported, including 4,518 from cancer and 5,776 from cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Men in the highest quintile of serum alpha-tocopherol had 18-percent reduced risk of total mortality, compared to those in the lowest quintile; further, the risks of deaths due to cancer, CVD and other causes were reduced by 21 percent, 19 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

The researchers concluded higher circulating levels of alpha-tocopherol within normal range helped lower mortality in older male smokers.

Maximum Vitality contains all the tocopherol and tocotrienol forms of Vitamin E.

Reference

Wright ME, Lawson KA, Weinstein SJ, Pietinen P, Taylor PR, Virtamo J, Albanes D. Higher baseline serum concentrations of vitamin E are associated with lower total and cause-specific mortality in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Nov;84(5):1200-7..

Key concepts: Vitamin E, mortality