January 2005

FCER points out holes in vitamin study

JAN. 27 — The research on high doses of vitamin E published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Vol. 142, Iss. 1) was faulty, says the director of research from the Foundation for Chiropractic Education, Tony Rosner, PhD.

His critique urges caution about such sweeping conclusions.

Among the weaknesses identified in Rosner’s study are:

• Chronically ill, rather than healthy, patients were studied.

• Eight forms of vitamin E occur naturally; but the study does not indicate the variant..

• Authors place a hazard at doses equal to and above 400 IU/d — with no explanation or rational for this seemingly arbitrary cutoff. In the studies examined there is too much variation in statistical analysis, making it virtually impossible to come to a single conclusion. In fact, some of the studies showed reduced mortality for people taking vitamin E at doses above 400 IU/d.

• The study makes little mention of benefits found with vitamin E supplementation, which is needed information when suggesting a risk:benefit hazard.

• The conclusions contradict previous studies.

• The statistical tests chosen and used suggest potential bias.

• Also not answered were questions such as length of supplementation and previous history of use.

Rosner concludes, “Until a study which explicitly defines the different isoforms of vitamin E with clearly defined populations is undertaken, it would be premature to case a cloud of suspicion upon doses of vitamin E at 400 IU/d or higher. At this stage, one cannot accept with any reasonable degree of confidence the results presented” in this study.

Rosner’s complete commentary is available at www.fcer.org.

Source: Foundation for Chiropractic Research and Education, www.fcer.org

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