Vitamin E just can't seem to get any respect these days. The latest salvo came from research that pointed a finger at E for interfering with the ability of drugs known collectively as statins to boost blood levels of HDL's (high-density lipoproteins, the "good" cholesterol).
Four Antioxidants, Only E Blamed.
Although the study involved several antioxidants, including beta-carotene, vitamin C and selenium, it was vitamin E that was singled out for caution in an accompanying editorial and in news reports. Perhaps that's because the vitamin is currently seen as the darling of supplements and because many people who take statins also take E to help prevent heart disease.
In the study, which appeared in the August issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle gave a "cocktail" of antioxidants (1,000 milligrams of vitamin C, 800 International Units of vitamin E, 25 milligrams of beta-carotene and 100 micrograms of selenium) to 153 participants with heart disease and low HDL's. Participants took the antioxidant cocktail either with or without the cholesterol-lowering drugs Zocor (simvastatin) and niacin. Both groups were compared to a group taking the same statin-niacin drug combo but without the antioxidant cocktail, as well as to a group taking placebos.
After a year, researchers found that the drug combination increased protective HDL's by an average of 25%, compared to only 18% for the drug-antioxidant combo. Moreover, they found .
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