Vitamin E and Strokes?

Because of the bad press given to the topic of Vitamin E and Strokes by websites such as WebMD Health News, this topic is extremely important.  (See Vitamin E can cause strokes.)

Not only was the synthetic form used in the study (which is toxic), the amount used was only 400 – 600 IU, which is virtually non-effective. The researchers from this study concluded, “although the risk remains relatively small, researchers have found that taking vitamin E supplements increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.”

So this means we should be afraid of taking vitamin E, right? And what is a commonly used alternative to vitamin E for reducing the risk of stroke? Ah yes…Coumadin (warfarin). A drug which carries a warning to the effect that the risk of a hemorrhagic stroke is not “relatively small”, but significant!  (Vitamin E vs. Coumadin)

According to a 2010 study, Coumadin is not the ideal choice:

“Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most feared and the most deadly complication of oral anticoagulant therapy, eg, with warfarin (Coumadin)…If a patient taking warfarin (Coumadin) or other anticoagulant drug suffers an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and survives, the physician faces the dilemma of whether to resume the anticoagulant. On one hand, the drug was prescribed because the patient was at risk of a thromboembolic event such as stroke or pulmonary embolism. On the other hand, warfarin use may increase the risk of another ICH….”

Sadly, it’s the same story…If natural Vitamin E was used in these studies, and at reasonable doses for effectiveness, such as 1000 – 4000 IU, perhaps some real results may have been observed.

Furthermore, the “studies” didn’t mention what other drugs people were taking, their lifestyle, age, diet, etc.  Well, I guess all you need to do is slap the word “study” on something, and it is then believed as truth by many. 

Personally, I find the following to be very telling when it comes to the credibility of  some of these studies:

“A total of 884 ischemic strokes occurred among 45,670 people taking vitamin E supplements, whereas 983 ischemic strokes occurred among 45,733 people taking a placebo.”

Clearly, if those taking a placebo had nearly the same number of ischemic strokes (in fact a bit more) than those who took vitamin E, then people in either category would have suffered the stroke regardless of whether they took vitamin E or the placebo!  Which brings me back to my original statement. Had these people been taking natural vitamin E, and at dosages that could actually have made a difference, then the outcome of these so-called “studies” would likely have turned out very differently.

So how credible was that 2010 study? Well, I think you now know…not very.

Read what the experts have to say about previous studies, and others like them: Vitamin E Experts Respond To Controversial Study and why pharmaceutical companies are trying disprove the effectiveness of Vitamin E.

It may shock you!

Other Related articles:

• Unraveling the Conflicting Studies on Vitamin E and Heart Disease
• Should anticoagulation be resumed after intracerebral hemorrhage?
• Vitamin E shows possible promise in easing chronic inflammation
• The “Toxic” Vitamin D?
• Vitamin E vs. Coumadin