What's your opinion of the recent AHA study on vitamin C

[Guest guest]

I can provide an anecdotal account here. I have coronary artery disease,

with angina (single vessel disease, revealed on ultra-fast scan;

left-anterior-descending artery), which started causing serious symptoms

over 10 years ago. At that time, I had been taking approximately 1 gram of

Vit. C, daily.

I've had no surgeries, not even angiogram (though I was constantly pressed

very strongly by doctors and nurses, to do so) and on leaving the hospital

after initial diagnosis, I immediately went on a strict, low fat, vegetarian

diet. Angina prevented me from exercising, except very mildly, and I'd

been told that heart disease is a " progressive " condition, and that surgery

was my only realistic option. During the years that followed, my intake of

supplements became more extensive and complex, and my Vit. C intake has

gradually increased, till it now is in the range of 5 to 7 grams daily,

amounts I've been taking now for a few years.

All I can tell you, is that my exercise tolerance has been slightly

improving, which is a strange outcome after 10 years, with a disease, which

I was told was " progressive. " If C was causing increased hardening of my

arteries, and I've been taking megadoses of C, now for 10 years, I should

have been dead a long time ago. Instead, I'm noticing marginal, but real

improvments in my exercise tolerance, and, as I study the research and

information available about nutritional supplemenation, sound eating habits,

exercise research, stress reduction, etc.

I certainly cannot say that C has had a therapeutic effect on my arteries,

but there's no subjective evidence showing a worsening of my angina. I've

just completed blood and EKG tests, and will get the results soon. It will

probably reveal some useful information. It may be very bad news or show

little change. I'll have to wait and see.

JP

 

 

-

" JoAnn Guest " <angelprincessjo

 

Friday, October 03, 2003 8:26 PM

What's your opinion of the recent AHA

study on vitamin C

 

 

> Today's Question

> What's your opinion of the recent study which says vitamin C (taken

> in pill form) can harden or clog arteries? Do you have any

> suggestions on how to get vitamin C while avoiding the negative

> consequences that showed up in the study?

>

> -- Bill

>

> Today's Answer

> (Published 05/16/2000)

> Updated 12/6/2001

> The results you mention were presented at an American Heart

> Association meeting in March. Researchers from the University of

> Southern California at Los Angeles examined artery ultrasounds of

> 573 middle-aged men and women. Those who took 500 milligrams of

> vitamin C daily, for at least a year, had blood vessels that

> thickened two-and-a-half times faster than those who didn't take

> supplements. The rate of thickening was even higher among smokers.

>

> Frankly, I don't find these results credible. When they announced

> their findings, even the scientists who conducted the study said

> that more research is needed to confirm -- or refute -- this data.

> Bear in mind that the study in question was unpublished, and the

> results were inconsistent with everything we know about vitamin C.

>

> I would rather focus on some of the good news about vitamin C:

>

> The March 2000 issue of the " Journal of the American Academy of

> Neurology " reported that supplementing diets with vitamins C and E

> may boost mental ability in later life -- and could protect against

> some forms of dementia, including the vascular dementia that can

> occur as a result of a stroke. The study involved 3,385 Japanese-

> American men aged 71 to 93. Those who took vitamin E and C

> supplements regularly (at least once a week) were 88 percent less

> likely to have vascular dementia four years later -- and 69 percent

> less likely to have other forms of dementia. However, the study

> found no overall protection against Alzheimer's disease.

>

> Another study involving more than 13,000 men and women, found that

> women who took vitamin C supplements were less likely to develop

> gallbladder disease. Results were published in the April 2000 issue

> of the " Archives of Internal Medicine. "

>

> And in the March 2000 issue of the " Journal of Family Practice, "

> researchers reported that vitamin C may help prevent a type of nerve

> pain (reflex sympathetic dystrophy) that can develop after an

> injury.

>

> You may have noticed that the Food and Nutrition Board of the

> National Academy of Sciences, the outfit that sets the Recommended

> Dietary Allowances (RDAs), recently raised the RDA for vitamin C

> from 60 mg to 75 mg daily for women, and 90 mg daily for men. I

> still think this is too low and stand by my recommendation for

> healthy adults of 200 to 500 mg daily, divided into two doses. In

> the past, I recommended much higher doses (2,000 to 6,000 mg divided

> into three doses daily) but changed my thinking after reviewing

> research which showed lower doses are probably effective in helping

> to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, cataracts, and

> other chronic conditions. Occasionally I recommend slightly higher

> doses for individuals with specific health conditions such as

> macular degeneration, high blood pressure and exposure to second-

> hand smoke.

>

> Andrew Weil, M.D.

> www.drweil.com

>

>

>