The Media Irresponsibly Reported On Recent Studies

by Jeffrey H. Reinhardt, MSc

In an apparent effort to derail the growth of the use of quality dietary supplements, mass media reporters and the big business opponents of using vitamin and mineral dietary supplements to augment the essential nutrients provided in each person’s daily diet have widely publicized and misrepresented the findings of two recent, controversial studies. The first study, published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, documents the lack of effectiveness of synthetic vitamin E, d,l-tocopheryl acetate, in preventing prostate cancer. The second study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (October 10, 2011;171(18):1625-1633) relies upon confusing statistical analysis and a sophomoric study design as the basis for questioning the health benefits and cost effectiveness of multiple vitamins and minerals in extending lifespan in elderly women.

The study published in JAMA (Klein EA, et al. Vitamin E and the Risk of Prostate Cancer – The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). October 12, 2011;306(14):1549-1556) reports on the continued follow-up of the participants in the original SELECT trial, which began in August of 2001, when 35,533 men over age fifty were initially recruited and evaluated for evidence of the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer. The qualifying participants were determined to not be suspicious for prostate cancer and then randomly placed into four different groups that received the following oral supplements: (1) selenium, 200 mcg. per day from L-selenomethionine, with a matched vitamin E placebo; (2) synthetic vitamin E, 400 I.U. per day as all racemic (2RS, 4’RS, 8’RS)-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (d,l-alpha-tocopheryl acetate), with a matched selenium placebo; (3) both selenium and synthetic vitamin E at the same doses given in (1) and (2) and; (4) a matched combination placebo.

The men in each of these groups were administered the oral supplements indicated above until October 2008, when the supplementation was stopped; at this time, the study participants had been followed for a median period of 5.46 years. In May 2011, after continuing follow-up and evaluations, the new data compiled revealed that “compared with placebo, the absolute increase in risk of prostate cancer per 1,000 person-years was 1.6 for vitamin E, 0.8 for selenium, and 0.4 for the combination.” Despite having used synthetic vitamin E (d,l-alpha-tocopheryl acetate) in this pharmaceutical paradigm study design, the authors concluded that “dietary supplementation with (sic synthetic) vitamin E significantly increased the risk of prostate cancer among healthy men.”

Since quality natural supplements of vitamin E are comprised of a mixture of d-alpha, d-beta, d-gamma and d-delta tocopherols and the Merck Index clarifies that, “vitamin E” is the general name for two groups of closely related toco-6-chromanol molecules known as tocopherols and tocotrienols, it is irrational and disingenuous for the media to have equated the increased risk of prostate cancer caused by synthetic vitamin E, as observed in the SELECT Trial, with the natural form of vitamin E found in quality dietary supplements such as Complete Antioxidant.

The study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, “Dietary Supplements and Mortality Rate in Older Women – The Iowa Women’s Health Study,” reports on the assessment of the self-reported use of vitamin and mineral supplements consumed by 38,772 women, whose mean age was 61.6 years at the beginning of the study in 1986. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between oral consumption of dietary supplement use as assessed by a questionnaire, filled out by respondents who reported their food frequency and supplement use, and total mortality rate in older women included in the Iowa Women’s Health Study.

This observational study was conducted as a survey. There was no health care professional guidance or supervision provided to the women who filled out the questionnaires and no professional assessments of the women’s health status were performed; likewise, there were no initial laboratory medicine values or baseline micronutrient levels determined by blood tests, and no record was made of the participants use of prescription drugs for existing or new medical conditions that developed during the course of this study. Despite these omissions, the study authors concluded, “in this large prospective cohort of older women, we found that most dietary supplements were unrelated to total mortality rate. However, several commonly used dietary vitamin and mineral supplements were associated with increased total mortality rate, most strongly supplemental iron; calcium showed some evidence of lower risk.”

Clearly, the conclusions of the authors of this study have been inflated to the point of journalistic irresponsibility by media reports that characterized vitamin and mineral supplements as dangerous and contributory to a premature death.

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