Press Release - Nov 9, 2008

Both vitamin E and vitamin C are antioxidant supplements that are taken by many American adults with the belief that they offer protection against chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease.  However, new research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) finds that neither vitamin E nor vitamin C supplements protect against cardiovascular disease in middle-aged and older men.  This research was presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2008 and published simultaneously online in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).  

“There has been great interest in antioxidants in the prevention of disease.  Our study shows that vitamin E and vitamin C supplements are not effective in the prevention of cardiovascular disease for middle-aged and older men.  People should continue to focus on eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and controlling known risk factors such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” said Howard D. Sesso, Sc.D., M.P.H., Project Director of Physicians Health Study II at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and lead author of the paper published in JAMA.

Researchers studied more than 14,000 male physicians who took either a vitamin E or C supplement or its placebo, depending upon the group to which each physician had been randomly assigned. Over an average of eight years follow-up, participants provided annual updates on their pill-taking, potential side effects, risk factors for disease, medication use, and new disease diagnoses.  Researchers were able to access participant’s medical records when necessary to confirm participant reports of cardiovascular events or cause of death.  After analyzing participant data, researchers found that neither vitamin reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease in men. 

“Unlike most previous studies in which vitamins E and C were given in combination with other antioxidants, this study investigated the two vitamins individually.  Our findings add to the growing consensus about vitamin E and C’s lack of cardiovascular protection,” said J. Michael Gaziano, M.D., M.P.H., Principal Investigator of the study and a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and VA Boston, Boston, Mass.  Dr. Gaziano presented these results as a late breaking clinical trial at the AHA Scientific Sessions.

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and BASF Corp. (Florham Park, N.J.).  Supplements and packaging was provided by BASF, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (Madison, N.J.), and DSM Nutritional Products, Inc. (Parsippany, N.J.).

Related Links
Physicians' Health Study
Division of Preventive Medicine
Cardiovascular Center of Excellence 

Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is a 777-bed nonprofit teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a founding member of Partners HealthCare, an integrated health care delivery network. In July of 2008, the hospital opened the Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center, the most advanced center of its kind. BWH is committed to excellence in patient care with expertise in virtually every specialty of medicine and surgery.  The BWH medical preeminence dates back to 1832, and today that rich history in clinical care is coupled with its national leadership in quality improvement and patient safety initiatives and its dedication to educating and training the next generation of health care professionals. Through investigation and discovery conducted at its Biomedical Research Institute (BRI), BWH is an international leader in basic, clinical and translational research on human diseases, involving more than 860 physician-investigators and renowned biomedical scientists and faculty supported by more than $416 M in funding. BWH is also home to major landmark epidemiologic population studies, including the Nurses' and Physicians' Health Studies and the Women's Health Initiative. For more information about BWH, please visit www.brighamandwomens.org.