Vitamin E Supplement May Heighten Risk of Lung Cancer

In a study, named VITAmins and Lifestyle (VITAL), of 78,000 adults in the state of Washington over a four year period of time dealing with taking vitamins and lung cancer incidence, shows that taking vitamin E may increase the risk of lung cancer.

A fellow in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Washington, Dr. Christopher G. Slatore, the author of this study said "Our study of supplemental multivitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and folate did not show any evidence for a decreased risk of lung cancer. Indeed, increasing intake of supplemental vitamin E was associated with a slightly increased risk of lung cancer."

Vitamin E and the incidence of lung cancer shows a "slight but statistically significant association".

The study shows that every increase of dosage of Vitamin E by 100 milligrams a day, there was an associated increase in the risk of lung cancer by 7 percent.

A spokeswoman for the London-based Health Supplements Information Service, Pamela Mason, says the results are not surprising, further adding "Vitamins are essential nutrients that act to maintain health and prevent vitamin deficiency. They were never intended to be used to prevent chronic disease such as cancer. Indeed, it would be asking a lot of a vitamin pill to expect it to prevent cancer."


Smoking is still the number one cause of lung cancer, but in this VITAmins and Lifestyle study, where lung cancer was diagnosed in 521 participants, they translate that 7 percent rise in risk of lung cancer associated with Vitamin E, to an increase of 28 percent in risk over 10 years for someone taking 400 milligrams of vitamin E daily."

.