Vitamin E & Heart Disease




One in three Americans will die of cardiovascular disease. Antioxidant vitamins, which are postulated to reduce the risk by 20-30 percent, could have substantial clinical and public health impact.

Increasing evidence indicates that free radicals may play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis. Free radicals may transform low-density lipoproteins (LDL) into an oxidized form. If oxidized LDL proves to be important in the causation of atherosclerosis, then antioxidant vitamins may prevent the oxidation of the unsaturated fatty acids in lipoproteins in the early stages of the disease.

The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, a 1986 investigation of approximately 45,000 men, aged 40 to 75 years, found that men who took vitamin E supplements for more than two years had a 26 percent reduction in heart attacks.

The researchers add that the protective effects of vitamin E were found in people taking approximately 100 I.U. daily which is more than could be reasonably obtained from dietary sources alone.

The other two major antioxidants-beta-carotene and vitamin C—have also been linked with reduction in heart disease.


Antioxidant Revolution
Free radicals are highly reactive, unstable oxygen molecules with an unpaired electron. Byproducts of oxygenation and other environmental factors, these molecules are found in over 60 chronic age-related afflictions including cancer and heart disease.

Antioxidants counteract the cell damage done by free radicals by binding with the electrically unbalanced electron. The major scavenger vitamins include beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E. The levels being used to combat free radical damage in research are significantly higher than the U.S. RDA. Research recommends a beta-carotene intake of 15-30 mg. (U.S. RDA is 6 mg.), a vitamin C intake of 250-1000 mg. (U.S. RDA is 60mg.), and a vitamin E intake of 100-400 I.I. (U.S. RDA is 30 I.U.) daily.

Antioxidants & Cancer
According to the June 7 issue of Newsweek, health authorities have calculated that if antioxidants explain the variations seen in the population studies, simply getting people to consume more of them could reduce the U.S. cancer mortality by a third.

A study of 30,000 residents of linxian County, Henan Province in north-central China, where cancer death rates are among the highest in the world, showed that antioxidants could reduce the risk of dying from cancer. The residents aged 40 to 69, who received antioxidants over a five-year period saw their overall cancer death rate drop by 13%.

The National Cancer Institute has analyzed over 20 studies that have tracked cancers of the lung and other tissues in relation to beta-carotene intake. All of the studies have linked high levels of beta-carotene to low rates of lung, mouth, throat, stomach, bladder and rectum cancer.

A study conducted by Dr. Gladys Block of the University of California, Berkley, surveyed the results from 20 studies that monitored the rate of mouth, throat and stomach cancers in relation to vitamin C. In 18 of those 20 studies, low intake equaled high risk factor. According to Block, on the average, people consuming the lease vitamin C were stricken at twice the rate of those consuming the most.

Although clinical trials are being conducted, the data currently available from basic research, clinical observation and epidemiology suggests that the implication for disease prevention is enormous. Researchers suggest the longer the usage of antioxidants the greater the benefit.

If the positive correlation between antioxidants and the reduction of free radical damage continues antioxidants may soon revolutionize healthcare.

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