Vitamin E could be dangerous for life

John Hopkins researchers have found that high doses of the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/14408_Vitamins.html ' target=_blank>vitamin E could be dangerous for life. Daily dose of the vitamin E may have bad influence on the heart and it means that the risk of death increases.

By re-analyzing the data from 19 vitamin E studies over the past decade, the scientists found that a daily dose of 400 IUs or more was linked to a 6 percent increased risk of death.

"People take significant amounts of vitamin E because they have a perception that it will provide some health benefit and that this will help them live longer, but just the opposite could be the case," said study author Dr. Edgar R. Miller, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, Forbes informed.

"Based on our findings, high-dose vitamin E supplementation is unjustified," Dr.Miller says.

Vitamins, he notes, are not regulated by the FDA or other agencies, but a report in 2000 by the Institute of Medicine recommended 1,000 IU per day as the "upper tolerable limit" for vitamin E. "We recommend that the upper tolerable limit be lowered to 400 IU per day," he says. Adults get about 10 IU of vitamin E from &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/science/ 19/94/379/11479_cholesterol.html ' target=_blank>diet, he says.

Miller presented his findings at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2004, and the study was simultaneously released online by the Annals of Internal Medicine, says CBS News.