Modification of the effect of vitamin E supplementation on the mortality of male smokers by age and dietary vitamin C.

ABSTRACT: The Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study (1985-1993) recruited 29,133 Finnish male cigarette smokers, finding that vitamin E supplementation had no overall effect on mortality. The authors of this paper found that the effect of vitamin E on respiratory infections in ATBC Study participants was modified by age, smoking, and dietary vitamin C intake; therefore, they examined whether the effect of vitamin E supplementation on mortality is modified by the same variables. During a median follow-up time of 6.1 years, 3,571 deaths occurred. Age and dietary vitamin C intake had a second-order interaction with vitamin E supplementation of 50 mg/day. Among participants with a dietary vitamin C intake above the median of 90 mg/day, vitamin E increased mortality among those a

SUBMITTER: Hemila H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2661323 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature