• 4/6/2005
  • Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • press release
  • Newswire Canada (newswire.ca)

The new Vitamin E study published in the April issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has the potential to cause unfounded fears among healthy individuals. The study’s isolated findings
applied to a patient group who had latent cancer or were at a high risk of developing cancer. Authors of the study admitted that “there is some concern about the generalization of the study results on individuals in the general population who are at low risk of a first cancer.”

Of the 540 volunteers, all had been previously treated for head and neck cancer and were at high risk of developing another cancer. At the end of the eight-year study, the percentage of patients who developed cancer were the same in the Vitamin E and placebo groups. It is therefore misleading to conclude that the results seen in this study would translate to the general population.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) noted in a statement issued March 15th that there are several clinical trials currently underway, including one that involves more than 34,000 men and is evaluating the benefits of Vitamin E and selenium for reducing the risk of prostate cancer. CRN noted that major clinical trials like this one are underway because researchers and study sponsors have confidence in the safety and potential benefit of Vitamin E.

“Jamieson Laboratories have complete confidence in Vitamin E
supplementation. Vitamin E is an essential antioxidant and most people do not get enough from their diet alone. Years of clinical research shows that Vitamin E supplementation is safe,” said, Gary Leong, Vice President of Scientific & Technical Affairs, Jamieson Laboratories.

This has been clearly documented in clinical trials
including:
– Morris CD, Carson S. Routine vitamin supplementation to prevent cardiovascular disease: a summary of the evidence for the
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med. 2003;139:56-70.

– Vivekananthan DP, Penn MS, Sapp SK, Hsu A, Topel EJ. Use of
antioxidant vitamins for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis of randomised trials. Lancet. 2003;361:2017-23.

– Shekelle PG, Morton SC, Jungvig LK, Udani J, Spar M, Tu W, et al. Effect of supplemental vitamin E for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. J Gen Intern Med. 2004;19:380-9.

Vitamin E is a Health Canada approved and regulated product. The dosages are carefully monitored and reviewed, as part of a pre-approval process by Health Canada for safety and efficacy.