A new study shows that taking vitamin E doesn't lower women's chances of getting rheumatoid arthritis. Data from observational studies, which simply follow people over time, had suggested that people who eat a diet rich in antioxidants such as vitamin E were less likely to develop this autoimmune disease, which affects women three times as often as men.
The new study, published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, analysed data from the Women's Health Study, which included 39,144 women aged 45 and over who were randomly assigned to take either a set dose of vitamin E or a placebo (dummy pill) every other day.
After 10 years, 50 of the women taking vitamin E and 56 of those taking the placebo had developed rheumatoid arthritis, no real difference.
The study is one of many attempts to understand the mechanisms behind autoimmune diseases, most of which affect women more than men, for reasons science hasn't yet solved.
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