Please keep in mind that this was not a study of a single patient. This was a so-called meta-analysis, where selected studies are reviewed and then conclusions are made that completely ignore the results of the individual studies. This same thing was done with vitamin E two years ago. The meta-analysis took place at Johns Hopkins. Interestingly, many of the studies that the meta-analysis reviewed had been done at Johns Hopkins and had showed the many various benefits of vitamin E. Yet, this study somehow took all these positive studies and digested them down to an opposite result! This study does the same thing. It leaves out many studies and also ignores the findings of the individual studies. Another problem I have in general is that most studies use the absolute poorest grade supplements, usually synthetic versions if they can. Vitamin C is the only supplement I know of that is basically the same whether it is synthetic or natural. Vitamin E in nature is actually found in a mixed complex of tocopherols that work together, but cheap synthetic E is used in most studies.
If I have a choice of believing the results of actual studies or what I feel are biased results of a review of many studies, I will go with the actual study results. And I am speaking in terms of supplement usage by non-thals. The health care industry has a vested interest in having an unhealthy population. Doctors are far better off today than when I was a kid. During my lifetime, they have ascended to elite high paid status and although there are many very dedicated doctors that I respect greatly, there are also doctors who measure each case in terms of new golf clubs and vacations. It is not in their interest and absolutely not in the interest of the drug industry, to have a healthy population. I say look at the results. I swear by vitamin E because I have taken it for over 35 years. I swear by wheatgrass because I take it and see the difference it makes in this sleep-deprived individual. I say see for yourself. Don't trust "studies" that are not studies.
Manal has hit the nail right on the head in terms of thalassemia. The deficits created by thal are sometimes monumental. When you read studies that find the majority of thals are deficient in vitamin E and folic acid, it is easy to see that thal depletes the normal amount of these in the thal bodies. Dr Vichinsky has a whole program of recommended supplements because of what he has observed in both deficiency in thals and also the effects of taking these supplements in thals. Trust those working the hardest with thalassemia, but be very careful in taking at face values the results of reviews. They are not studies.