Women in the vitamin E group were 21% less likely to form the blood clots (venous thromboembolism or VTE) compared to placebo. A subgroup of women who had a history of VTE was 44% less likely to develop the clots, compared to women with no previous VTE, whose risk declined 18%. In VTE, blood clots that form in the veins can break away and lodge in the brain, heart or lungs.