(RxWiki News) Researchers at the University of Helsinki in Finland have found that vitamin E increases life expectancy in certain groups of men aged 71 and older.
A recent study in Finland has found a link between vitamin E supplements and improved health in certain groups of men. Depending on smoking habits and the amount of vitamin C in their diets, some men may see an increase in life-span when taking vitamin E.
Men with slightly elevated levels of vitamin C intake and who smoked less than one pack of cigarettes daily extended their life span by two years when given supplemental vitamin E. In the rest of the men enrolled in the study, vitamin E did not affect life-span.
The study, conducted by Dr. Harri Hemila and Professor Jaakko Kaprio, found that vitamin E had no real effect on mortality rates in men between 65 and 70, but did reduce it by 24 percent in those 71 and older.
The trial reinforces the idea that while vitamin E is not a grand solution for increasing life-span in men, its effects need to be further studied in these older men with greater specificity. The team has proposed that follow-up studies be conducted with less "randomization" and wider "controlled trials."
Vitamin E is naturally occurring in certain foods and also frequently added to some food products. Its antioxidant properties have made it of particular interest in the study of some diseases, in addition to its anti-inflammatory and immune effects.
