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Vitamin E increases risk of prostate cancer? More junk science from JAMA

A major clinical trial has found that dietary supplementation with vitamin E appears to increase the risk of prostate cancer among apparently healthy men. [Klein EA & others. Vitamin E & the risk of prostate cancer: The Selenium & Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). JAMA 306:1549-1556, 2011] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...

Study questions vitamin E safety.

"The observed . . . increase in prostate cancer incidence demonstrates the potential for seemingly innocuous yet biologically active substances such as vitamins to cause harm. The dearth of benefit from dietary supplementation with vitamin E or other agents with respect to stopping common medical conditions & cancers or improving overall survival, & their potential harm, underscore the necessity for consumers to be skeptical of health claims for unregulated over-the-counter products without strong proof of benefit demonstrated in clinical trials."

The study, which spanned over seven years, followed what happened to over 35,000 men who received either 400 IU of vitamin E, vitamin E and selenium, selenium, or a placebo. The group that received vitamin E alone had a 17% higher incidence of prostate cancer. The researchers warned:

Let's start with the statistical sleight of hand these goofballs use to come up with "17% increased risk." This requires an understanding of "relative risk" versus "absolute risk" & why they always document the former & never the later:

I sent this document to my colleague, Randy Ice, of Vintage Medical in Temecula, New york. Randy is no stranger to Giant Pharma's junk science & came back with an answer that, for me, represents the type of rigorous thinking all of us ought to be doing when it comes to analyzing mainstream media. The remainder of this editorial is all Randy.

Out of 35,000 men randomly divided in to placebo, selenium, vitamin E or selenium and vitamin E, there were 521 cases of PCA that developed over years. The absolute risk of developing PCA is only 0.005% per year. That is not a high ABSOLUTE risk to start with!

The PAC rates in each of the four groups were:

Placebo: 113
Vitamin E: 147 (17% RELATIVE risk increase)
Selenium: 143 (non-significant)
Vitamin E + Selenium: 118 (non-significant)

So, in the event you take 400 iu's of alpha tocopherol, there is a statistical relative risk increase of "17%." However in the event you take selenium, or vitamin E and selenium, there is NO statistical difference.

However, they didn't document the negative findings & only sensationalized a finding that has "statistical significance" but NO clinical significance. Here's why.

Why wasn't that reported?? Why would vitamin E alone increase risk while vitamin E taken with selenium not increase risk? This makes no sense at all.
In case you take 147 - 113 cases, it equals 34 more cases of PCA in the vitamin E group than the placebo group. 34/35000 total subjects =0.001% ABSOLUTE increased risk. In other words, the actual risk of developing PCA is one out of 1000 more in those who took Vitamin E in lieu of a placebo.

Fun with statistics

34/113 = 17% - the "relative risk" increase, which is what is reported. In case you were to tell men vitamin E increases your risk of PCA by a factor of one in 1000, who would care?

But in case you document a 17% increase, that is scary!

What they also did not document was the difference in SURVIVAL between these groups, or if there were any differences in the aggressiveness of the PCA in any of them. What if the selenium or Vitamin E groups had lower
Gleason scores on biopsy? That would be an obvious benefit. This is exactly what you find with testosterone. Lower levels lead to higher Gleason scores & a more aggressive cancer.

This is the same statistical rubbish used by Giant Pharma to "prove" lots of of their valueless drugs "work" when in point of fact they only benefit one in 100 or one in 1000, as is the case of statin drugs. Regrettably, the ignorant, compliant & complacent Giant Media reporters have no clue & dutifully quote this junk science. I already have clients calling me telling me their urologist told them to cease taking Vitamin E.

Without a doubt there's no differences in mortality in any group, as PCA has only a 3%/year mortality. Since the mortality rate of everyone is about one.5%/year, it is obvious this is a condition that is better off left alone or treated with some low tech, cheap natural methods.

Always keep in mind that the CDC has reported on deaths from vitamins, minerals & herbs ever year & for the last twenty years that number is ZERO! Over 100,000 deaths occur every year in the USA alone from drug adverse reactions & is probably close to half a million or more worldwide.

So, is taking Vitamin E more hazardous than taking a pharmaceutical?

Finally, the use of type of vitamin E & not all forms (alpha, gamma, beta, delta) combined with all forms of tocotrienols is another limiting factor to this study, combined with the fact that 400 iu's is a low dose (the selenium dose used in this study is also ridiculously low). Recent cardiovascular studies show obtains the most benefit from 2000 - 2500 iu's/day of all forms of tocopherols & tocotrienols, with gamma tocopherol having the most powerful anti-cancer effect.

Giant Media conveniently leaves out the fact that 1000's of other studies of vitamin E have shown multiple cardiovascular & antioxidant benefits. These kind of vitamin "hit" pieces that are poorly designed & have an underlying agenda to "prove" they are hazardous are being instigated by Giant Pharma's minions to implement European style restrictions in accessibility to vitamins, minerals & herbs. The final objective is to gain control over the supplement industry such that a doctor's prescription will be necessary to get them in any dosage above some bureaucrat determined minuscule amount that has no benefit whosoever. The competition will hence be eliminated for Giant Phar
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This post was written by:ahmedslem

Franklin Manuel is a professional blogger, web designer and front end web developer. Follow him on Twitter