DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER **EXTRA** (Vol. 4, No 24-A, November 11, 2004)

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" Andrew W. Saul " <drsaul

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DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER **EXTRA** (Vol. 4, No 24-A,

November 11, 2004)

 

 

 

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 11:16:36 -0500

 

 

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DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER **EXTRA** (Vol. 4, No 24-A, November 11,

2004)

 

Written and copyright 2004 by Andrew W. Saul, Contributing Editor for

the

Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. Commercial use of the contents of

this

Newsletter is strictly prohibited.

 

ANTI-VITAMIN FERVOR or ANTI-VITAMIN TERROR?

 

The news media can be absolutely relied on to trumpet any allegation

that

vitamins are harmful. Such is yet again the case, as now vitamin E has

been

accused of actually causing deaths. (Miller E. R., Pastor-Barriuso R.,

Dalal

D., Riemersma R. A., Appel L. J. & Guallar E. Meta-Analysis:

High-dosage

vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality. Ann Intern

Med,

4 January 2005. Volume 142, Issue 1)

 

So many understandably distressed readers have written to me about this

that

I thought I'd offer an immediate three-part analysis of the situation.

 

PART ONE:

 

Simply put, this and other vitamin-bashing articles are wrong. Their

conclusions are pre-ordained; their approach is biased; their research

design is faulty. In the present study, even the study authors admitted

that

" Most of the patients in the trials were over age 60 and were not

well. "

(Billingsley J. Vitamin E linked to higher death rates. HealthDay

Reporter,

Weds Nov. 10, 2004.)

 

She adds: " The study 'inappropriately tries to draw conclusions for the

whole population based on a combination of studies of people who were

already at grave risk with existing diseases, including cancer, heart

disease, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and kidney failure,' " according to

the

Council for Responsible Nutrition, a dietary-supplement industry

association.

 

" John Hathcock, the Council's vice president for scientific and

international affairs, added, 'In reviewing the totality of evidence on

vitamin E, including all clinical trial data and several large

observational

studies, CRN agrees with the Institute of Medicine in finding vitamin E

supplements safe at levels of at least up to 1,000 mg (1,600 IU) for

normal,

healthy adults. This meta-analysis provides no convincing evidence to

the

contrary.' "

 

In fact, writes Bill Sardi: " The study authors concluded that 'Overall,

vitamin E supplementation did not affect all-cause mortality.' That is

not

what you heard in televised news reports or in the newspapers. What you

heard was there is a 5 to 10 percent (5 to 10 in 100) increased risk of

dying from taking high-dose vitamin E supplements. . . (I)n hard

numbers the

risk rose by 10 in 10,000 persons, or 1 in 1000 (about 1/10th of one

percent). . . The authors of the study indicate, among the 19 studies

they

examined, 'Most of the trials examined targeted populations at high

risk for

a chronic disease, most often coronary heart disease.' This fact

obviously

skewed the results. "

 

Indeed, Sardi adds: " A University of North Carolina study of 45,748

participants, aged 50 to 75 years, found that supplement use is higher

among

people who are battling chronic health conditions and the strongest

association was for cardiovascular disease with supplemental vitamin E.

[Am

Journal Preventive Medicine 24:43-51, 2003]. "

 

(http://www.askbillsardi.com/sdm.asp?pg=news & specific=87)

 

 

To sum it up: Older people are much more likely to have multiple

chronic

illnesses. Many such people are likely to take higher doses of vitamin

E,

which while a lifesaver, is not the elixir of immortality. Sadly, older

people die. People die in spite of vitamin E, not because of it.

 

SO WHY THE CONFUSION?

 

As I wrote in a previous Newsletter

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v4n22.txt):

 

" Beware the Meta-Analysis: A meta-analysis is not new research, but a

review

of existing research. It is not a clinical study, but rather a

statistical

look at a collection of studies. If you analyze failed studies, you

will get

a negative meta-analysis. Low-dose vitamin studies are the ones that

get

negative results. Most vitamin research is low-dose. So where's the

surprise? "

 

Many if not most E-supplementers mistakenly or unknowingly take

synthetic

vitamin E (DL-tocopherol), which is therapeutically ineffective. The

vitamin

E meta-analysis made no attempt to differentiate between use of the

natural

form and the synthetic form vitamin E. This is a significant if not

glaring

omission. As cardiologists Wilfrid and Evan Shute discovered decades

ago,

the natural " D " (dextro-, or right-handed) form of the vitamin is

needed for

results. You cannot screw in a left-hand-thread light bulb and expect

your

lamp to work.

 

Megadosing with natural vitamin E has been shown to be safe and

effective

for well over 60 years.

 

PART TWO:

 

WELL-PUBLICIZED VITAMIN SCARES FEED THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

 

CHICKEN LITTLE was in the medical library one day when a journal fell

on her

head. She read it, and it scared her so much she trembled all over.

Why?

Because Chicken Little had read of negative studies on vitamins. She

was so

afraid that half her feathers fell out.

 

" Help! Help! Vitamins are killing us! I have to go tell the President! "

 

So she ran in great fright to tell the President. Along the way she met

Henny Penny.

 

" Where are you going, Chicken Little? " said Henny Penny.

 

" Oh, help! Vitamins are killing us! " said Chicken Little.

 

" How do you know? " said Henny Penny.

 

" I read it with my own eyes, " said Chicken Little, " And it was on the

news,

and part of it fell on my head! "

 

" Vitamins are killing us? This is terrible, just terrible! " said Henny

Penny. " We'd better hurry up. "

 

So they both ran away as fast as they could. Soon they met Ducky Lucky.

 

" Where are you going, Chicken Little and Henny Penny? "

 

" Vitamins are killing us! Vitamins are killing us! " said Chicken Little

and

Henny Penny. " We're going to tell the President! "

 

" How do you know vitamins are killing people? " said Ducky Lucky.

 

" I read it with my own eyes, " said Chicken Little, " And heard it with

my own

ears on the news, and part of it fell on my head. "

 

" Oh dear, oh dear! " Ducky Lucky. " We'd better run! "

 

So they all ran down the road as fast as they could. Soon they met

Goosey

Loosey walking down the roadside.

 

" Hello there. Where are you all going in such a hurry? "

 

" We're running for our lives! " said Chicken Little

 

" Vitamins are killing us! " said Henny Penny.

 

" And we're running to tell the king! " said Ducky Lucky.

 

" How do you know that vitamins are killing people? " said Goosey Loosey.

 

" I read it with my own eyes, " said Chicken Little, " And heard it with

my own

ears on the news, and part of it fell on my head! "

 

" Goodness! " said Goosey Loosey. " Then I'd better run with you. "

 

And they all ran in great fright across a field. Before long they met

Turkey

Lurkey strutting back and forth..

 

" Hello there, Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, and Goosey

Loosey.

Where are you all going in such a hurry? "

 

" Help! Help! " said Chicken Little. " Vitamins are killing us! "

 

" We're running for our lives! " said Henny Penny.

 

" And by the way, the sky is falling! " added Ducky Lucky.

 

" So we're running to tell the President! " said Goosey Loosey.

 

" How do you know the sky is falling? " asked Turkey Lurkey.

 

" I read it with my own eyes, " said Chicken Little, " And heard it on the

news

with my own ears, and part of it fell on my head! "

 

" Oh dear! " said Turkey Lurkey. " I always suspected those damned

vitamins

were dangerous! I'd better run with you. "

 

So they ran with all their might, until they met Pharma Fred the Fox.

 

" Well, well, well, " said Pharma Fred. Where are all of you rushing off

to on

such a fine day? "

 

" Help! Help! " cried Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Goosey

Loosey,

and Turkey Lurkey all together. " It's not a fine day at all. Vitamins

are

killing us, the sky is falling, and we're running to tell the

president! "

 

" But of course vitamins are killing you, " said Pharma Fred the Fox.

" Now all

of you calm down. Here, have a Prozac. "

 

Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Goosey Loosey, and Turkey

Lurkey

each swallowed a few Prozacs, and some Valium for good measure.

 

" Well then, " said Pharma Fred the Fox. " How did you learn of how

dangerous

those vitamins really are? "

 

" I read it with my own eyes, " said Chicken Little, " And heard it on the

news

with my own ears, and part of it fell on my head! "

 

" I see, " said Pharma Fred the Fox. " Well then, follow me, and I'll show

you

right to the President. "

 

So Pharma Fred the Fox led Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky,

Goosey

Loosey, and Turkey Lurkey across a field and through the woods. He led

them

straight to his den, and they never saw the President.

 

And Foxy Pharma Fred had most a delicious dinner.

 

(With thanks and courteous apologies to

http://eleaston.com/chicken.html, an

excellent language education resource where you will find the original

story.)

 

Now look here, everyone:

 

The sky is not falling. Vitamins save lives. We are a nation of sick,

under-nourished, and over-medicated people. Vitamins are not the

problem;

they are the solution.

 

PART THREE:

 

VITAMIN E: A CURE IN SEARCH OF RECOGNITION

 

by Andrew W. Saul

 

(Reprinted with permission from the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine,

2003; Vol. 18, Numbers 3 and 4, p. 205-212.)

 

" Some doctors claim that vitamin E helps many heart cases, but the

official

view is that the substance has not been proved of value in treating

heart

disease. "

 

This statement could have been taken verbatim from any of a number of

recent

news media reports. But in fact, this particular quote is from a 1953

article in Maclean's Magazine entitled " The Fight Over Vitamin E. " (1)

 

Half a century later, it would seem that little has changed.

 

" (W)e do not support the continued use of vitamin E treatment and

discourage

the inclusion of vitamin E in future primary and secondary prevention

trials

in patients at high risk of coronary artery disease. " (2)

 

This statement is from a 2003 analysis that looked at studies employing

daily treatment dosages between 50 and 800 IU. Yet since the 1940's,

clinicians have been reporting that vitamin E dosages between 450 and

1,600

IU or more are required to effectively treat cardiovascular disease. I

would

enjoy seeing a meta-analysis of the work of Drs. Wilfrid and Evan

Shute, who

treated coronary thrombosis with 450 to 1,600 IU; angina with 450 to

1,600

IU; and thrombophlebitis with 600 to 1,600 IU of vitamin E daily. (3)

The

recent Lancet meta-analysis did not include them. There is nothing

capricious about either study selection or dosage choice. Researchers

and

analysts know full well that high dosage will obtain different results

than

low dosage. Statistical analysis of meaningless studies will rarely

enable a

meaningful conclusion.

 

DOUBLE STANDARD

 

Countless comedians have made fun of the incompetent physician who,

when

called late at night during a life-threatening disease crisis, says,

" take

two aspirin and call me in the morning. " Now it's no longer funny.

Recently,

one of the largest pharmaceutical conglomerates in the world ran

prime-time

national television commercials that declared: " Bayer aspirin may

actually

help stop you from dying if you take it during a heart attack. " The

company

also promotes such use of its product on the Internet. (4) This

statement

comes forth after a century of widespread aspirin consumption.

Cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer of men and women

and

there are over a million heart attacks annually in the US alone.

 

If you produced a TV ad that said that megadoses of wheat germ oil, or

the

vitamin E in it, could save your life by preventing a heart attack, not

only

would people disbelieve you, you'd also be subject to arrest for

breaking

federal law. Foods and vitamins may not be advertised as treatments for

specific diseases. " All statements of nutritional support for dietary

supplements must be accompanied by a two-part disclaimer on the product

label: that the statement has not been evaluated by FDA and that the

product

is not intended to " diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. " " (5)

 

Yet even traditional nutrition textbooks acknowledge the extensive

scientific proof of successful treatment of intermittent claudication

with

vitamin E. " This therapy helps reduce the arterial blockage, " says

Nutrition

and Diet Therapy, Seventh Edition, a standard dietetics work. (6)

Unless

there be something absolutely unique about arterial real estate between

the

knee and the ankle, would not vitamin E also help " reduce the blockage "

in

other arteries? This is rationale the Shutes used when, 65 years ago,

they

employed vitamin E to successfully treat circulatory diseases in

thousands

of patients, using daily dosages as high as 3,200 IU. For that

achievement,

they were praised by their patients and ostracized from the ranks of

orthodox physicians.

 

By 1971, it was increasingly clear that the Shutes had gotten it right.

Intermittent claudication, now regarded as a reliable sign of

peripheral

arterial disease, was shown by double-blind study to be diminished 66%

with

the use of vitamin E. The dosage administered was 1600 mg/day. (7)

 

A TORRID HISTORY

 

1922 was the year the USSR was formed and " Little Orphan Annie " began.

Trumpeter Al Hirt and future heart transplant pioneer Christiaan

Barnard

were born. Alexander Graham Bell died. And vitamin E was discovered by

H. M.

Evans and K. S. Bishop. (8)

 

In 1936, Evans' team had isolated alpha tocopherol from wheat germ oil

and

vitamin E was beginning to be widely appreciated, and the consequences

of

deficiency better known. Health Culture Magazine for January, 1936

said,

" The fertility food factor (is) now called vitamin E. Excepting for the

abundance of that vitamin in whole grains, there could not have been

any

perpetuation of the human race. Its absence from the diet makes for

irreparable sterility occasioned by a complete degeneration of the

germinal

cells of the male generative glands. (T)he expectant mother requires

vitamin

E to insure the carriage of her charge to a complete and natural term.

If

her diet is deficient in vitamin E . . . the woman is very apt to

abort. . .

It is more difficult to insure a liberal vitamin E supply in the daily

average diet than to insure an adequate supply of any other known

vitamin. "

(9)

 

And that very same year, 1936, the Shutes were already at work

employing

tocopherol from wheat germ oil to relieve angina symptoms. (10)

 

Since the word " tocopherol " is taken from the Greek words for " to carry

offspring " or " to bring forth childbirth, " it is easy enough to see how

Evan

Shute and other obstetricians were drawn into the work. As early as

1931,

Vogt-Moller of Denmark successfully treated habitual abortion in human

females with wheat germ oil vitamin E. By 1939 he had treated several

hundred women with a success rate of about 80%. In 1937, both Young in

England and the Shutes in Canada reported success in combating

threatened

abortion and pregnancy toxemias as well. A. L. Bacharach's 1940

statistical

analysis of published clinical results " show quite definitely that

vitamin E

is of value in recurrent abortions. " (11) And also in 1940, the Shutes

were

curing atherosclerosis with vitamin E. By 1946, thrombosis, phlebitis,

and

claudication.

 

Yet when the MDR's (Minimum Daily Requirements) first came out in 1941,

there was no mention of vitamin E. It was not until 1959 that vitamin E

was

recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as necessary for

human

existence, and not until 1968 that any government recommendation for

vitamin

E would be issued. That year, the Food and Nutrition Board of the US

National Research Council offered its first Recommended Daily

Allowance: 30

IU. It has been as low as 15 IU in 1974 . In 2000, it was set at 22 IU

(15

mg) for all persons, including pregnant women. This is somewhat odd in

view

a 70-year established research history showing how vital vitamin E is

during

gestation. It is another curious fact that today, when the public has

been

urged to increase its consumption of unsaturated fats, the official

dietary

recommendation for vitamin E is substantially lower than it was 35

years

ago. " The requirement for vitamin E is related to the amount of

polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) consumed in the diet. The higher

the

amount of PUFAs, the more vitamin E is required. " (12)

 

One reason the RDA was lowered is that " dieticians were having

difficulty

devising diets of natural foods which had the recommended amount (30

IU) of

vitamin E. " (13) There are about 39 IU of vitamin E in an 8-ounce cup

of

olive oil. A full pound of peanuts yields 34 IU. Professor Max K.

Horwitt,

Ph.D., who spent 15 years serving on The Food and Nutrition Board's RDA

committees, said in an interview that " The average intake by adults,

without

supplements, seems to be about 8 milligrams of alpha-tocopherol per

day, or

8 tocopherol equivalents. This is equivalent to 12 International Units

(IU). " (14) So it might be said that, in the end, the accommodation was

not

to raise the bridge but rather to lower the river.

 

Vitamin E is the body's chief fat-soluble antioxidant. It is a powerful

one

indeed, when you consider that 22 IU is presumed adequate to protect

each

one of the tens of trillions of body cells in a human being. Even

though

there has been a veritable explosion in antioxidant research since

1968, the

RDA for vitamin E has been decreased.

 

POSTAL FRAUD

 

" Any claim in the labeling of drugs or of foods offered for special

dietary

use, by reason of Vitamin E, that there is need for dietary

supplementation

with Vitamin E, will be considered false. " (United States Post Office

Department Docket No. 1/187 (March 15, 1961)

 

On October 26, 1959, the US government charged an organization known as

the

Cardiac Society with postal fraud for selling 30 IU vitamin E capsules

through the mail. Specifically, the charge was " the operation of a

scheme or

device for obtaining money through the mails by means of false and

fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises . . . that

Respondent's

product 'E-FEROL 30 I.U.' (containing vitamin E) is therapeutically

effective and beneficial in the treatment of heart and cardiovascular

diseases for any person so afflicted; that Respondent's said product

will

prevent heart disease; that " It (vitamin E) is the key both to the

prevention and treatment of all those conditions in which a lack of

blood

supply due to thickened or blocked blood vessels or a lack of oxygen is

a

part or the whole story of the disease " ; that " Vitamin E seems to be a

natural anti-thrombin in the human blood stream. . . It is the only

substance preventing the clotting of blood which is not dangerous " ;

that the

book " Your Heart and Vitamin E " tells you " What Vitamin E is and Does,

How

It Treats Heart Disease, Its Success In Circulatory Diseases, Your

Foods'

Deficiency in Vitamin E " . . . That " It (the book) explains medical

facts in

every-day language concerning the help that is available for sufferers

from

diseases of the heart and blood vessels such as Coronary Heart Disease,

Angina Pectoris, Phlebitis, Buerger's Disease, Diabetes, Strokes, etc. "

(15)

 

A four-day hearing in Washington, D.C. generated sufficient testimony

to

fill " four volumes totaling 856 pages. Seventy-six exhibits were

received in

evidence. . . for the consideration of the Hearing Examiner. His

Initial

Decision covers forty-two pages. "

 

It is an oddity of history that, at the height of the Cuban Missile

Crisis,

the United States of America found both the reason and the resources to

prosecute such a case as this.

 

" The record here shows that the consensus of medical opinion is that

Respondent's claims are false and that this is the universality of

medical

opinion on the subject. Numerous tests and experiments have been

conducted

to attempt to substantiate the claims made by Respondent that Vitamin E

is

efficacious for treatment of a number of conditions but these have

failed to

substantiate the claims. It appears perfectly clear from the testimony

of

the expert witnesses that Respondent's claims and representations are

devoid

of scientific support. . . The Hearing Examiner correctly found that

the

Respondent intends to deceive by its false representation and that

actual

fraud under established law is proven. . . A fraud order shall issue

forthwith forbidding the delivery of mail and the payment of money

orders

incident to such scheme, to the Respondent, its agents and

representatives,

all in accordance with 39 U.S.C. 259 and 732. " (15)

 

After this, all mail addressed to the Cardiac Society was returned to

the

sender, with " Fraudulent " stamped on the envelope.

 

DOSAGE AND UTILITY

 

Vitamin E has many clinically important and seemingly unrelated

properties.

In their books (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21) the Shutes discuss a number of

them.

 

1) Vitamin E strengthens and regulates heartbeat, like digitalis and

similar

drugs, at a dose adjusted between 800 to 3,000 IU daily.

 

2) Vitamin E reduces inflammation and scarring when frequently applied

topically to burns or to sites of lacerations or surgical incisions.

Internally, vitamin E helps to very gradually break down thrombi at a

maintained oral dose of between 800 IU and 3,000 IU.

 

3) Vitamin E has an oxygen-sparing effect on the heart, enabling the

heart

can do more work on less oxygen. The benefit for recovering heart

attack

patients is considerable. 1,200 to 2,000 IU daily relieves angina very

well.

My father, duly diagnosed with angina, gradually worked up to 1,600 IU

over

a period of a few weeks. He never had an angina symptom again. In this,

he

had the identical success that thousands of Shute patients had.

 

4) Vitamin E moderately prolongs prothrombin clotting time, decreases

platelet adhesion, and has a limited " blood thinning " effect. This is

the

reason behind the Shutes' using vitamin E (1,000 - 2,000 IU/day) for

thrombophlebitis and related conditions. The pharmaceutical industry

and the

medical profession are well aware of vitamin E's anticoagulant property

and

that " very high doses of this vitamin may act synergistically with

anticoagulant drugs. " (21) However, this also means that vitamin E can,

entirely or in part, substitute for such drugs but do so more safely.

Perhaps this is best summed up by surgeon Edward William Alton Ochsner,

M.D.

(1896-1981) who said, " Vitamin E is a potent inhibitor of thrombin that

does

not produce a hemorrhagic tendency and therefore is a safe prophylactic

against venous thrombosis. " (23)

 

5) Vitamin E is a modest vasodilator, promotes collateral circulation,

and

consequently offers great benefits to diabetes patients. (24) The

Shutes

used a dose of about 800 IU or more, tailored to the patient. For this,

among other reasons, Evan Shute, author of over 100 scientific papers,

was

literally judged to be a fraud by the United States Post Office

Department.

The 1961 court decision said, " Vascular degenerations in a diabetic are

not

effectively treated in the use of vitamin E in any dosage. . . vitamin

E has

been thoroughly studied and that there is no doubt whatsoever as to its

lack

of utility. " (15)

 

This statement was premature to say the least. The " thorough study " of

vitamin E was not quite completed by 1961. Thirty-eight years later, a

crossover study of 36 patients who had Type I diabetes, and retinal

blood

flows that were significantly lower than non-diabetics, showed that

those

taking 1,800 IU of vitamin E daily obtained normal retinal blood flow.

The

patients with the worst initial readings improved the most. " (V)itamin

E may

potentially provide additional risk reduction for the development of

retinopathy or nephropathy in addition to those achievable through

intensive

insulin therapy alone. Vitamin E is a low-cost, readily available

compound

associated with few known side effects; thus, its use could have a

dramatic

socioeconomic impact if found to be efficacious in delaying the onset

of

diabetic retinopathy and/or nephropathy. " (25) Vitamin E also works

synergistically with insulin to lower high blood pressure in diabetics.

(26)

 

QUANTITY AND QUALITY

 

The most common reason for irreproducibility of successful vitamin E

cures

is either a failure to use enough of it, or a failure to use the

natural

form (D-alpha, plus mixed natural tocopherols), or both. For example,

in an

oft-quoted negative study (27), researchers who gave 300 milligrams of

synthetic vitamin E to patients who had recently had a heart attack saw

no

beneficial effect. Such failure is to be expected. You can set up any

experiment to fail. The Shutes would have used only the natural form,

and

four times as much.

 

Natural vitamin E is always the dextro- (right-handed) form. On the

other

hand, " synthetic vitamin E is a mixture of eight isomers in equal

proportions containing only 12.5% of d-alpha tocopherol. One mg of

dl-alpha

tocopherol has the lowest Vitamin E equivalence of any of the common

vitamin

E preparations. " (28)

 

There may be other differences. " Vitamin E derived from natural sources

is

obtained by molecular distillation and, in most cases, subsequent

methylation and esterification of edible vegetable oil products.

Synthetic

vitamin E is produced from fossil plant material (coal tar) by

condensation

of trimethylhydroquinone with isophytol. " (12)

 

While personal philosophy is the only possible basis for a decision to

conduct a study using only the synthetic form of a vitamin, the use of

low

dosage is generally explained away by alleging doubts about safety.

 

SAFETY

 

The most elementary of forensic arguments is, where are the bodies?

Poison

control statistics report no deaths from vitamin E. (29) There is a

reason

for this. Vitamin E is a safe and remarkably non-toxic substance. Even

the

2000 report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of

Sciences, which actually recommends against taking supplemental vitamin

E,

specifically acknowledges that 1,000 mg (1,500 IU) is a " tolerable

upper

intake level . . . that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health

effects

for almost all individuals in the general population. " (30) The Shutes

observed no evidence of harm with doses as high as 8,000 IU/day. In

fact,

" toxicity symptoms have not been reported even at intakes of 800 IU per

kilogram of body weight daily for 5 months " according to the Food and

Nutrition Board. (31) This demonstrated safe level would work out to be

around 60,000 IU daily for an average adult, some 2,700 times the RDA!

 

In addition to an awareness of anticoagulation medications, " Dr. Shute

advises starting with small doses for patients who have rheumatic heart

disease. He starts with 90 IU. and very slowly works up the dose. The

reason

for this is that if too much is given at the beginning the increased

strength of the heartbeat may create some difficulty. The same applies

to

heart failure. The initial dose should be small and gradually

increased. If

this is done the final dose can safely reach 800 to 1200 IU. " (31)

 

SAFETY IN THE ELDERLY

 

A Columbia University study reported progression of Alzheimer's disease

was

significantly slowed in patients taking high daily doses (2,000 IU) of

vitamin E for two years. (32) The vitamin worked better than the drug

selegiline did. The patients in the Alzheimer's study tolerated their

vitamin E doses well. Perhaps the real story is that 2,000 IU per day

for

two years is safe for the elderly.

 

SAFETY IN CHILDREN

 

Children using anti-epileptic medication have reduced plasma levels of

vitamin E, a sign of vitamin E deficiency. So doctors at the University

of

Toronto gave epileptic children 400 IU of vitamin E per day for several

months, along with their medication. This combined treatment reduced

the

frequency of seizures in most of the children by over 60 percent. Half

of

them " had a 90 to 100 percent reduction in seizures. " (33) This

extraordinary result is also proof of the safety of 400 IU of vitamin E

per

day in children (equivalent to at least 800 to 1,200 IU/day for an

adult).

" There were no adverse side effects, " said the researchers. It also

provides

a clear example of pharmaceutical use creating a vitamin deficiency,

and an

unassailable justification for supplementation.

 

SAFETY IN INFANTS

 

Overexposure to oxygen has been a major cause of retrolental

fibroplasia

(retinopathy of prematurity) and subsequent blindness in premature

infants.

Incubator oxygen retina damage is now prevented by giving preemies 100

mg E

per kilogram body weight. That dose is equivalent to an adult dose of

about

7,000 IU for an average-weight adult. " There have been no detrimental

side

effects " from such treatment, said the New England Journal of Medicine,

Dec.

3, 1981. (34) Nevertheless, the 1989 (sixth) edition of the textbook

Nutrition and Diet Therapy (6) advised that " healthy persons stand the

chance of developing signs of toxicity with the megadoses that are

recommended in these studies. " (p. 225) That incorrect statement was

dropped

in the book's next edition. Instead, the 7th edition (1993) said under

" Toxicity Effects " that " Vitamin E is the only one of the fat-soluble

vitamins for which no toxic effect in humans is known. Its use as a

supplement has not shown harmful effects. " (p 186)

 

IMMUNE FUNCTION

 

" Worst Pills, Best Pills " is a monthly newsletter published by Public

Citizen, Ralph Nader's " Health Research Group. "

http://www.citizen.org/hrg/

The October, 2002 issue (Vol 8, No 10) contained this statement by

editor

Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D.: " You should not take dietary supplements. These

products have not been tested or shown to be effective for any use, and

their safety is unknown. The only exception to this advice is an

inexpensive

vitamin or mineral preparation. " (p 80) On page 77, the doctor presents

a

JAMA study (35) alleging that a mere 200 mg of vitamin E is somehow

detrimental to patients over the age of 60 with respiratory tract

infections.

 

But there are other studies that Public Citizen might do well to

present to

its readership. Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D., writes: " The effect of daily

vitamin E supplementation (800 IU alpha tocopherol for 30 days) on

immune

responses of 32 healthy subjects (60+ years old) was examined in a

placebo-controlled, double-blind trial in a metabolic research unit.

The

data suggest that vitamin E supplementation improves immune

responsiveness

in healthy elderly. " (36) In a second study, " using a double blind

protocol,

immune response was studied in a group receiving vitamin E (800 mg per

day)

versus placebo. The increased immunocompetence was matched by blood

vitamin

E levels which jumped from 1.1 to 3.1 mg%. No such change in blood

vitamin E

occurred in the control group (1.1 to 1.0 mg%). " (37)

 

A recent and perhaps even more important study looked at patients with

colon

cancer " who received a daily dose of 750 mg of vitamin E during a

period of

2 weeks. Short-term supplementation with high doses of dietary vitamin

E

leads to increased CD4:CD8 ratios and to enhanced capacity by their T

cells

to produce the T helper 1 cytokines interleukin 2 and IFN-gamma. In 10

of 12

patients, an increase of 10% or more (average, 22%) in the number of T

cells

producing interleukin 2 was seen after 2 weeks of vitamin E

supplementation. " The authors concluded that " dietary vitamin E may be

used

to improve the immune functions in patients with advanced cancer. " That

improvement was achieved in only two weeks merits special attention.

(38)

 

Note that the doses in these positive studies were nearly four times

the

dose used in the negative JAMA study cited by Dr. Wolfe.

 

HYPERTENSION

 

Recent research has indicated that Vitamin E normalizes high blood

pressure.

(39, 40, 41) In some hypertensive persons, commencement of very large

vitamin E doses may cause a slight temporary increase in blood

pressure,

although maintained supplementation can then be expected to lower it.

The

solution is to increase the vitamin gradually, along with the proper

monitoring that hypertensive patients should have anyway. High blood

pressure has been called the " silent killer, " and nearly one-third of

adults

have it. It is all too frequently unrecognized and untreated.

 

Nearly half of all deaths are due to cardiovascular diseases, and often

the

first symptom is death. Advocating daily supplementation with several

hundred IU's of vitamin E would be good public health policy. Yet

vitamin E,

for decades lampooned as a " cure in search of a disease, " remains

virtually

the " silent healer " for as much as the public has been advised of its

benefits.

 

Back in 1985, Linus Pauling wrote: " The failure of the medical

establishment

during the last forty years to recognize the value of Vitamin E in

controlling heart disease is responsible for a tremendous amount of

unnecessary suffering and for many early deaths. The interesting story

of

the efforts to suppress the Shute discoveries about Vitamin E

illustrates

the shocking bias of organized medicine against nutritional measures

for

achieving improved health. " (10, vii)

 

Dr. Pauling would most likely have appreciated this comment from a

recent

Harvard Health Letter: " A consistent body of research indicates that

vitamin

E may protect people against heart disease. . . The data generally

indicate

that taking doses ranging from 100 to 800 IU (International Units) per

day

may lower the risk of heart disease by 30%-40%. " (42) Over half a

century

ago, the Shute brothers and colleagues showed that, with even higher

doses

than those, and with an insistence on the use of natural vitamin E, the

results are better still.

 

ALL REFERENCES TO THIS ARTICLE ARE POSTED at

http://www.doctoryourself.com/evitamin.htm .

 

Dr. Evan Shute's autobiography, The Vitamin E Story, was reviewed by

Andrew

Saul in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Volume 17, Number 3,

Third

Quarter, 2002 (p 179-181) and is also posted online at

http://www.doctoryourself.com/estory.htm .

 

For further reading:

 

WHY WE NEED HIGH-DOSE SUPPLEMENTS

 

http://www.doctoryourself.com/replace.htm

 

HOW DRUGS AND DOCTORS KILL A MILLION AMERICANS EACH YEAR

 

http://www.doctoryourself.com/deathmed.html

 

IF YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT VITAMINS ARE HARMFUL, READ THIS

 

http://www.doctoryourself.com/safety.html

 

HOW TO SPOT ANTI-VITAMIN BIAS IN A SCIENTIFIC STUDY

 

http://www.doctoryourself.com/antivitamin.html

 

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