Antioxidant Vitamins -- Benefits Not Yet Proved

Over the past decade, there has been increasing scientific and public interest in the theoretical possibility that antioxidant vitamins, such as beta carotene (provitamin A)1 or more recently alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E),2 might help prevent cancer or cardiovascular disease. It has been suggested that cancer-causing damage to DNA might be prevented by the scavenging of free radicals or excited oxygen molecules that are byproducts of many normal metabolic functions. In cardiovascular disease, it has been hypothesized that antioxidant vitamins might inhibit the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol into a particularly atherogenic form3 and preserve endothelial function4.Observational epidemiologic data from . . .