Antioxidants wash out
By DrRich
At the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Anaheim in November, 2001, results were reported from the Heart Protection Study (HPS,) the largest cholesterol-lowering study yet conducted. HPS shows unequivocally that statins greatly benefit people who have a high risk of coronary artery disease - even if their original cholesterol levels are normal or low. (Click here for a report on these results.)
In another aspect of HPS, the 20,000 enrolled patients (who were between the ages of 40 and 80, and whose risk of heart disease was statistically high) were also randomized to receive either a cocktail of daily antioxidant vitamins (600 mg of vitamin E, 250 mg of vitamin C, and 20 mg of beta-carotene) or placebo.
In contrast to the remarkable results in this study seen with statins, there was no evidence that this cocktail of vitamins reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke, death, or vascular complications. The group of patients studied in HPS is precisely the group that - one would hope - ought to benefit from vitamin therapy. It is unfortunate, therefore, that in this very large, statistically powerful study, no benefit was seen from vitamins.
This result justifies the conclusion: these vitamins - at least in these doses - do not prevent heart disease.
What do you think? Enter the Heart Disease Forum:
