Vitamin E may up pneumonia risk in some smokers

More antioxidant miracles.

"Taking vitamin E supplements may increase the risk of pneumonia in some middle-age men who smoke, a new study suggests.

The findings, say researchers, add to evidence that people should be cautious about taking vitamin E in a bid to ward off chronic disease.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant...

A number of clinical trials, however, have found no evidence that vitamin E protects against ills like heart disease, stroke or cancer...

Overall, the study found that vitamin E appeared to raise the risk of pneumonia in smokers who were either thin (less than 132 pounds) or heavy (more than 220 pounds). But this was only true when the men also were taking high levels of vitamin C, compared with other men of the same weight.

In the lighter-weight group, vitamin E raised the risk of pneumonia by 61 percent, while in the heavier group, the supplement more than doubled men's pneumonia risk...

Vitamin C, also an antioxidant, is known to interact with vitamin E. 'But we cannot explain why the interaction leads to harm and not to benefit when the level of both is high,' Hemila said.

The bottom line, according to the researcher, is that no one knows which people might benefit from vitamin E supplements and which ones could be harmed."

That is true. Finally, truth.

"In general, experts recommend that adults get 15 mg -- or 22.5 international units (IU) -- of vitamin E daily, from sources such as vegetable oils, nuts and fortified cereals."

So much for the experts.

Oops.