One in three Americans will eventually die of cardiovascular disease. 
Antioxidant vitamins, which are postulated to reduce risk by about 20-30%, could 
have substantial clinical and public health impact. Basic research, clinical 
observation, and epidemiology have contributed to an emerging body of evidence 
on the atherogenicity of oxidized low-density lipoprotein, which could be an 
important mechanism to explain why antioxidant vitamins may decrease risk of 
coronary disease. The antioxidant-vitamin/cardiovascular-disease hypothesis has 
recently been explored in several large prospective cohort studies, but the 
findings were not all consistent. In several randomized, small-scale trials 
using subjects with existing vascular disease, data indicate benefits associated 
with vitamin E and beta carotene. Over the next several years, data from a 
number of ongoing primary prevention trials and proposed secondary prevention 
trials should determine whether antioxidant vitamins decrease risk of vascular 
disease.