so, some scientists asked "if vitamin e is such a powerful anti-oxidant, does that mean it can undo the carcinogenic effects of smoking?"
and, what they found was this:
the use of supplemental vitamin E in current but not in former smokers was associated with an 11% increased risk of lung cancer for every 100 mg/day increase, and intakes greater than 215 mg/day were specifically linked to a 29% increase in risk for non-small cell lung cancer.
those are very small increases that would be reported as statistically irrelevant in virtually any other scenario, when controlled for other factors. but, the answer is clear enough - vitamin e won't protect you from smoking. or from coal particles. or from car exhaust...
but, we know who runs the world.
so, the headlines read:
VITAMIN E CAUSES CANCER
...when the studies really suggested no such thing; even in former smokers, there was no statistical(ly insignificant) increased risk.
you gotta be careful with this stuff - you need to get somebody to read it for you, because you probably can't read it yourself. again. don't wing it. ask a mathematician...