12/11/08 In response to new findings published Tuesday, November 11, in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on whether long-term vitamin E or vitamin C supplementation decreases the risk of major cardiovascular events among men, the lobby group the Natural Products Association issued the following statement from Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., the association’s vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs:

“On the second page of the study, it references nine pooled studies that when using 700 milligrams per day of vitamin C showed a 25-percent reduction in the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD);  yet this study only used 500 milligrams per day. Why wasn't the 700 milligrams per day amount used when that has been correlated with a reduction in occurrence in prior studies? 

“Additionally, while the study did control for multivitamin intake to prevent overlap, intake of vitamin C and E from food was not controlled.  With a population of health care professionals at an increased risk for CVD, these subjects most likely know the benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and thus rich in vitamins C and E, and may adjust their intake accordingly. This would most certainly confound the study.

“It is essentially a drug study but one without a positive control, which is necessary to ensure the experimental design can produce a positive result even if the intervention was unable to.”