[Colonel]

[quote="mr.miyagi":9da1d].... plus theres reports suggesting they do absolutely nothing whatsoever, waste of money....[/quote:9da1d]


For every study that suggests that they do nothing there are thousands of studies that show that they have enormous benefits. For instance, a study was released on Vitamin E a few months ago called the Hope Too study. The press had a hayday with this one. CNN, USA Today reported that Vitamin E had no benefit at all and that the study showed an increase in heart failure if you were taking Vitamin E....however subjects in the study (average age was over 70) were typically taking five different medications in addition to vitamin E -- including beta-blockers, anti-platelet agents, statins, diuretics, calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors -- yet the increase in heart failure (from 12.1 percent in the placebo group to 13.5 percent in the vitamin E group) was attributed exclusively to vitamin E, with no adjustment for pharmacotherapy. I guess negative news is better news.

Recently a new study was completed. It is called the Women's Health Study. It is the largest and longest ever conducted. 40,000 women (all over 45) were studied over ten years. There was a significant 24 percent reduction in cardiovascular deaths among all women taking the vitamin (106 deaths in the vitamin E group versus 140 in the placebo group). Also women 65 and older taking vitamin E had a 26 percent decrease in heart attacks and cardiovascular deaths. Not only did the press not report this like they did on the "bad news" story...they actually ran a one paragraph story in the Atlanta paper that said the Wome's Health Study showed no significant benefit for taking Vitamin E....26% decrease in heart attacks sounds pretty significant to me!

Sorry for the rant... but it is a pet peeve of mine.