Vitamins C and E Supplements Not So Beneficial to Heart

In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and numerous vitamin manufacturers, it was found that vitamins C and E have no effect on heart disease. In fact, some researchers believe that not only does vitamin C not help prevent heart attacks, but the supplement may also promote cancer, which is a very scary thought considering that millions of Americans take these pills to reap their potential benefits. As for vitamin E, it was found that the risk of bleeding strokes was increased in people that take the pills, especially in males that smoke cigarette, on top of the fact that the supplement does not prevent heart disease.

The Physicians Health Study, which began in 1997, is one of the largest studies ever conducted on vitamins C and E. It utilized 14,641 male doctors that were age 50 or over, 5 percent of whom had previously had heart disease. Researchers divided the men into four separate groups, with one group taking vitamin C, one vitamin E, one taking both and one taking a dummy pill. At the conclusion of the study 8 years later, it was found that there were no difference between the four groups regarding heart-related deaths, heart attack or stroke rates. Surprisingly, the study did reveal that in the group of men taking the vitamin E supplement, there was a 74 percent greater risk for bleeding stroke. Although this new evidence suggests that these vitamins are not beneficial to the heart, and have several negative effects, an estimated 12 percent of Americans still take the supplements.

In a separate study involving over 12,000 heart attack survivors conducted at the University of Oxford in England, it was found that the B-12 and B-9 (folic acid) vitamins also had no positive effect on heart disease. The results of the original study can be found online at the Journal of the American Medical Association website.

The potential risks involved in taking these supplements are serious and may require medical care. If you or a loved one has medical malpractice questions in New York, please contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos serving clients in Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, Staten Island and Westchester County.

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