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Chugging vitamin E seems to boost the immune system in healthy old people, raising the possibility that supplements could help thwart life-threatening infections. The nutrient may also turn out to be a potent lung saver, warding off the depredations of cigarette smoke, car exhaust and other pollutants. "The effects of air pollution are chronic," says Dr. Daniel Menzel of the University of California at Irvine. "Over a lifetime people develop serious diseases like bronchitis and emphysema. We have fed animals in our labs vitamin E and have found that they have fewer lung lesions and that they live longer." Menzel suggests that priming children with doses of antioxidants could protect them against lung disease as adults, much the way fluoridated water protects them against tooth decay.
For patients found to have Parkinson's disease, vitamin E may hold special promise. The nutrient seems to delay the appearance of tremors, rigidity and loss of balance, thus postponing the need for therapy with dopamine. The vitamin also appears to alleviate some of the unpleasant side effects of antipsychotic drugs, such as twitchy hands, face and feet.
Holding center stage in antioxidant circles, however, is beta carotene, a complex deep orange compound that is naturally abundant in sweet potatoes, carrots and cantaloupes. Beta carotene is turned into vitamin A by the body as needed. That makes it impossible to overdose on beta carotene, even though taking too much vitamin A can lead to liver damage and other effects.
Doctors at Harvard Medical School, who have been following 22,000 male physicians as part of a 10-year health study, have made a stunning discovery about beta carotene. They found that men with a history of cardiac disease who were given beta carotene supplements of 50 mg every other day suffered half as many heart attacks, strokes and deaths as those popping placebo pills. No heart attacks occurred among those in this group who received aspirin along with the beta carotene capsules. The Harvard researchers have begun a trial in 45,000 postmenopausal women to see if a similar effect occurs in women. Scientists speculate that the antioxidant helps prevent those nasty oxygen- free radicals from transforming LDL, the bad form of cholesterol, into an even more menacing artery clogger.
Beta carotene may prove powerful in combatting cancer as well. In countries such as Japan and Norway, where diets are rich in beta carotene, the populations have a low incidence of lung, colon, prostate, cervical and breast cancer. And a study at the University of Arizona Cancer Center found that three to six months of daily beta carotene pills dramatically reduced precancerous mouth lesions in 70% of patients. Pharmaceutical giant Hoffmann- La Roche is so enamored with beta carotene that it plans to open a Freeport, Texas, plant next year that will churn out 350 tons of the nutrient annually, or enough to supply a daily 6 mg capsule to virtually every American adult.