NORTHRIDGE, Calif. July 5, 2005 —The Women’s Health Study (WHS), the largest, long-term, randomized vitamin E trial ever conducted, revealed vitamin E significantly reduced the risk of death from major cardiovascular events (e.g., heart attack or stroke) by 24 percent. A 10-year study of nearly 40,000 healthy women, WHS also showed that for women age 65+, vitamin E’s effect was even greater: a 49 percent decrease in the risk of cardiovascular death and a 34 percent reduction in heart attacks. The findings were published in the July 6 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA.

"For women over age 65 at the study’s start – the group with the highest risk - the researchers found a significant reduction in their major endpoint, major cardiovascular events, and in cardiovascular deaths,” said Gladys Block, PhD., MPH, an epidemiologist at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. “The authors note in their conclusion that this ‘should be explored further.’"

Dave Madsen, Ph.D., Pharmavite Director of Scientific Affairs agreed, “Although mortality prevention was not the study’s primary focus, the secondary findings about vitamin E deserve further attention. The WHS does not support the use of supplemental vitamin E to prevent cancer or cardiovascular disease, but it does suggest that vitamin E may reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke or death. If confirmed, this finding could have significant implications for public health. More women age 65 and up die from heart disease than from all other conditions combined, including cancer.”

Government reports indicate that women age 65 and older comprise 58 percent of the U.S. elderly population and 7.8 percent of the total U.S. population. Each year, cardiovascular disease kills nearly 500,000 women annually and costs more than $133 billion in medical bills.

“Vitamin E is a safe and cost-effective way to promote heart health,” Madsen said.

The Women’s Health Study was designed to test whether vitamin E supplementation lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer among healthy women. It was conducted between 1992 and 2004 on nearly 40,0000 healthy women age 45+. Participants received either 600 IU vitamin E or placebo, along with aspirin or placebo, every other day.