[Cosmo Kramer]

TORONTO, Nov 10, 2004 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- The recent meta-analysis, High-Dosage Vitamin E Supplementation May Increase All-Cause Mortality, is an obvious attempt to sensationalize the field of clinical research and promote the interests of a select group of researchers. The press release about this research, issued by Johns Hopkins University, over-simplifies years of clinical research on Vitamin E and has the potential to create significant and wholly unnecessary fear among vitamin users that there is an increased risk of mortality from Vitamin E supplementation.

The full meta-analysis, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, clearly indicates "high dosage trials evaluated as part of the meta-analysis were often small and were performed in patients with chronic diseases". Therefore, the researchers' conclusion that there is an increase in total mortality among people who were taking high dosage Vitamin E supplementation can, at best, only be applied to patients who were already suffering from major illnesses such as heart disease.

It is crucial to note that the study does not suggest that Vitamin E was the cause of death among these people who were already afflicted with a life-threatening illness.

It is equally important to note that this is not a clinical study but a skewed statistical review. The researchers ignored all studies where there was no indication of increased mortality and focused solely on people who died, from any cause, during the study evaluation timeline.

This research does not actually evaluate benefits or risks of Vitamin E supplementation on the general population, so it is extremely irresponsible to conclude that there is any risk "...to the millions of North Americans who take vitamin E supplements". To Jamieson Laboratories' knowledge, no clinical study has been published that documents any toxicity associated with Vitamin E.

This clearly does not warrant the sensational and erroneous headline used in the media release.

Years of clinical research shows that Vitamin E supplementation is safe. 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.

VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/o....cgi?okey=8644

CONTACT: For further information: Media interested in additional documentation on

Vitamin E clinical trials and outcomes are invited to contact Stephanie Blok

at Jamieson Laboratories at (416) 960-0052

[Funny Monkey]

I guess they are just setting the foundation to outlaw all our vitamins, supplements, and minerals one day.

[shaddow]

Thanks for that post Bobo! A coworker just gave me the news that "Vitamin E causes heart problems and death" and I refused to believe a word of it. I've simply read too many studies that contradicted that statement. Thanks for clearing that up.