The final debunking of Vitamin E: Now it raises prostate cancer risk

Vitamin E -- No longer miracle supplement for PC.

Tough week for guys trying to deal with the threat of prostate cancer:  First the PSA screen came under attack (previous post), now vitamin E.

Once believed to be a super supplement that could reduce the risk of prostate cancer, vitamin E (and selenium) were  shown to have no benefit at all several years ago. That was about the time of my diagnosis, years after I'd begun taking vitamin E.

Natually, this came as disappointing news. Since the early 2000s, men had been popping high doses of vitamin E, thinking this was an easy over-the-counter antidote to the second most deadly cancer among American men. 

I was among the poppers. Since the late '90s, I'd been besieged by urinary tract issues and an enlarged prostate, so I tried everything — including buying bottles of vitamin E at the local GNC and trying high doses, believing vitamin E was good for prostate health and would relieve my symptoms.  It didn't seem to help much. But I took vitamin E off and on for years, adding it to a cocktail of other so-called "miracle" supplements.

Interestingly, the researchers who revealed vitamin E and selenium had no benefit in 2008, continued to study the 35,000 men in the trial.  Now, three years later, they're reporting high doses of vitamin E actually increase the risk of prostate cancer.

They found an increased risk of 17 percent in men who took 400-unit capsule of vitamin E every day for about five years.  Look, that's a lot of vitamin E — about 20 times more than the recommended amount. But that wasn't unusual for guys who believed they might be preventing prostate cancer, or at least improving prostate health — like me.

Just goes to show you, if you wait long enough, all common wisdom will eventually be upended by another study.