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(Circulation. 1950;1:288.)
© 1950 American Heart Association, Inc.

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Failure of Alpha Tocopherol to Influence Chest Pain in Patients with Heart Disease

SEYMOUR H. RINZLER M.D.¹; HYMAN BAKST M.D.¹; ZACHARY H. BENJAMIN M.D.¹; AUDRIE L. BOBB M.D.¹; JANET TRAVELL M.D.¹

¹ From the Cardiovascular Research Unit, Beth Israel Hospital, and the Department of Pharmacology, Cornell University Medical College, New York, N. Y.

Claims for vitamin E in angina pectoris have not been based on controlled observations. Even some negative reports have not been adequately controlled as to nonspecific factors. Hence, this study of the effects of alpha tocopherol on cardiac pain used a method of investigation carefully controlled as to psychologic factors which might affect the patient's response or the examiner's interpretation of results. The dose of synthetic alpha tocopherol acetate (300 mg. by mouth daily for two or more months) was the same as that recommended by advocates of this form of therapy as optimum in most cases. The results failed to indicate that the vitamin possessed any advantage over the placebo for treatment of either effort angina or mixed types of cardiac and somatic chest pain.