. . . yes, if it's the wrong kind! The second study was done under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the potential benefits of vitamin E and selenium for preventing prostate cancer. It had to be terminated when researchers found 400 IU of vitamin E daily was actually increasing the risk of prostate cancer. But what form of vitamin E were these scientists using? The wrong kind! Synthetic alpha tocopherol acetate! Here is a quote from my Roadmap to Choosing Supplements on vitamin E (emphases added): There are different forms of vitamin E, and they are not equal in chemical structure or function. Most vitamin E supplements contain alpha tocopherol, yet there is growing evidence indicating that it may be harmful to consume alpha tocopherol without at the same time obtaining gamma tocopherol. They must be taken together for best results. Another problem is synthetic vitamin E, which is not well absorbed and has been found to be only half as effective as natural E. F…

. . .  drugs just aren't cutting it. The poor drug industry has been hard put to come up with a drug for hypertension that doesn't significantly reduce quality of life with side effects like dizziness, nausea, arrhythmias and sexual problems, and in addition contribute over time to chronic disease. The new angiotensin receptor blockers were recently linked in The Lancet Oncology with developing prostate, breast and lung cancers. It's also been hard for them to come up with drugs that do the job. In a 2008 Canadian Family Physician, Richard Nahas, MD, CCFP, says only about 1/3 of those taking hypertension meds achieve optimal blood pressure control. Therefore it's not surprising, although refreshing, to see some serious attention being paid in medical journals to non-drug therapies. Recently, in The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, two MDs discussed the value of the low-sodium DASH diet (see my article on the DASH diet for a description), exercise, weight reduction, moderate a…