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Effect of supplemental vitamin E for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and synthesize the evidence on the effect of supplements of vitamin E on the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

DESIGN: Systematic review of placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials; meta-analysis where justified.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Eighty-four eligible trials were identified. For the outcomes of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction, and blood lipids, neither supplements of vitamin E alone nor vitamin E given with other agents yielded a statistically significant beneficial or adverse pooled relative risk (for example, pooled relative risk of vitamin E alone=0.96 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.84 to 1.10]; 0.97 [95% CI, 0.80 to 1.90]; and 0.72 [95% CI, 0.51 to 1.02] for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and nonfatal myocardial infarction, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: There is good evidence that vitamin E supplementation does not beneficially or adversely affect cardiovascular outcomes.

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Correspondence to Paul G. Shekelle MD, PhD.

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This research was performed by the Southern California Evidence-Based Practice Center based at RAND, Santa Monica, Calif under contract to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (contract no. 290-97-0001). The research was requested and funded by The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health. The authors of this article are responsible for its contents, including any clinical or treatment recommendations. No statement in this article should be construed as an endorsement by an official position of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or of The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Shekelle is a Senior Research Associate of the Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Service.

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Shekelle, P.G., Morton, S.C., Jungvig, L.K. et al. Effect of supplemental vitamin E for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. J GEN INTERN MED 19, 380–389 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30090.x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30090.x

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