A study by Harvard Medical School in Boston in the U.S. has found that taking vitamin E could increase the risk of suffering a hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain) by 22 per cent. Haemorrhagic strokes are the least common type and occur when a weakened blood vessel supplying the brain bursts and causes brain damage.
On the other hand, they also discovered that vitamin E could actually cut the risk of the most common type of stroke by 10 per cent. The ischaemic stroke accounts for 70 per cent of all strokes and occurs when a blood clot prevents blood from reaching the brain.
The study, published online in the British Medical Journal, included nine studies on almost 1.2 million people to investigate the link between vitamin E and stroke. All participants were taking doses of at least 50mg of vitamin E daily.
While none of the trials suggested taking vitamin E increased the risk for total stroke, the differences were notable for the two individual types.
Researchers concluded that given the relatively small risk reduction of ischaemic stroke and the generally more severe outcome of hemorrhagic stroke, indiscriminate widespread use of vitamin E should be cautioned against.