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To the Editor: The article by the HOPE and HOPE-TOO trial investigators¹ concludes that vitamin E supplementation does not prevent cancer or cardiovascular events when used for 7 years. Study patients had preexisting coronary or peripheral artery disease, stroke, or diabetes mellitus plus another cardiovascular disease risk factor, and the mean age was 66 years. Although it is a well-controlled investigation, its primary conclusion does not fit the study’s parameters.

Heart disease and cancer are serious age-related chronic degenerative illnesses with multiple physical manifestations resulting from oxidative and other changes that have progressed over decades. Expecting to reverse these chronic degenerative processes in only 7 years with use of a vitamin in patients of this age with known vascular disease and diabetes mellitus is unreasonable.

Complementary modalities should be evaluated using the same evidence-based standards and appropriate design criteria as traditional medicines. Vitamin E may or may not be beneficial . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Robert W. Jarski, PhD
jarski@oakland.edu
Complementary Medicine and Wellness Program

Kenneth R. Hightower, PhD
School of Health Sciences
Oakland University
Rochester, Mich

Michael I. Dangovian, DO
Department of Cardiology
William Beaumont Hospital
Troy, Mich

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