Antioxidants & Estrogen strike out

Postmenopausal women with heart disease who were given estrogen or high doses of antioxidants had a higher risk of dying than those who took a placebo, according to a study that used X-rays of the arteries (angiograms) to monitor artery-clogging. More than 400 women took vitamin E (800 IU a day) plus vitamin C (1,000 mg a day), estrogen (Prempro or Premarin), both, or a placebo. After three years:

* angiograms showed no difference between the vitamin-takers and the placebo-takers, but 16 vitamin-takers died, compared to six who took no vitamins,

* angiograms showed worse arteries in the estrogen-takers than in the placebo-takers, and 14 estrogen-takers died, compared to eight who took no estrogen. The number of deaths was small, though, so the difference could have been due to chance.

"Although some other studies with lower doses of vitamins have suggested that antioxidant vitamin supplements might not be helpful, the trend toward more deaths found in our study was unexpected," said principal investigator David Waters, who is chief of cardiology at San Francisco General Hospital.

What to do: To prevent or treat heart disease, rely on a healthy diet, exercise, and, if necessary, drugs to lower your cholesterol or blood pressure, rather than large doses of antioxidant vitamins. Postmenopausal women should talk to their doctors about the pros and cons of taking estrogen.

J. Amer. Med. Assoc. 288: 2432, 2002.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Center for Science in the Public Interest
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning