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Vitamin E and a Woman’s Heart
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A major study investigating whether vitamin E could lower heart disease rates in women found that the vitamin is not as protective as was hoped. But researchers posed an interesting question for future research: Are vitamin E’s benefits linked to a woman’s age?
According to the Women’s Health Study, which followed nearly 40,000 healthy women 45 years and older for 10 years, women who took 600 IU’s (international units) of vitamin E every other day lowered their risk for cardiovascular disease by only 7 percent. Vitamin E had no effect on stroke risk, cancer risk or overall mortality. “Women should not take [vitamin E] for cardiovascular health,” says Jennifer Mieres, M.D., director of nuclear cardiology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY, and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association. However, the study did reveal that women 65 and over who took that dose of vitamin E slashed their heart disease risk by 26 percent. So while the evidence for 65-year-old women is promising, Dr. Mieres adds, more research is needed before recommendations about its use can be made.
Note: The study also found that taking 100 milligrams of aspirin on alternate days reduced a woman’s risk for stroke by 17 percent, but had no significant effect on her risk of heart attack or death from heart disease. The exception: Women over 65 reduced their heart attack risk by 26 percent. “Aspirin has no benefit for women at low risk for heart disease or ischemic stroke,” says Dr. Mieres. But it may help older women or those with heart disease risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity. Check with your doctor first.
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