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| |  Vitamin E Protects Against Heart Attacks, Reports Study WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 1997 -- Studies reported recently by the American Heart Association, the New England Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition are among a growing number pointing to the important role Vitamin E may play in the prevention of heart disease. "Vitamin E, either in supplement or in food, appears to prevent coronary heart disease," said American Heart Association (AHA) president Dr. Jan Breslow. The AHA listed Vitamin E research as the fourth most noteworthy accomplishment in heart and stroke research advancement for 1996. Dr. Breslow cited a British study of patients with heart disease conducted by the University of Cambridge. "In a study of 2,000 patients with heart disease, Vitamin E supplements reduced heart disease by 75 percent," Dr. Breslow said. The Cambridge study found that Vitamin E reduced the risk of both fatal and non-fatal heart attacks by 47 percent and non-fatal heart attacks by 77 percent. "Our findings support the use of a high dose of Vitamin E to prevent non-fatal myocardial infarction (heart attack)," the study concluded. Professor Morris Brown, the study's lead researcher, said: "Now we can confidently say that Vitamin E protects against heart attacks -- I will be recommending that patients with angina and those who are at risk of heart disease should be given supplementary Vitamin E at high dose." A similar study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that post-menopausal women who took Vitamin E significantly reduced their risk of heart disease. The seven-year study of 34,486 women, titled "Dietary Antioxidant Vitamins and Death from Coronary Heart Disease in Postmenopausal Women," found that "the intake of Vitamin E from food is inversely associated with the risk of death from coronary heart disease and that such women can lower their risk without using vitamin supplements." The study, by the Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota School of Health, found that diets highest in Vitamin E intake had half the risk of death from heart disease, compared with those with a low Vitamin E diet. Researchers believe these results apply to men as well as women. An article in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested that Vitamin E may reduce the risk of overall death, as well as heart disease. In a study of people between the ages of 67 and 105, the National Institute of Aging in Bethesda, Md., examined the effects of Vitamin E and other antioxidant vitamins on the heart. The study, titled "Vitamin E and Vitamin C supplement use and risk of all-cause and coronary heart disease mortality in older persons: the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly," found that "use of Vitamin E reduced the risk of all-cause mortality and risk of coronary disease mortality." The study found that doses of Vitamin E taken as a supplement produced better results than getting the vitamin naturally in food. "Dietary sources high in Vitamin E are often high in fat. To get 100 IU (international units) daily, a person would have to consume 7 cups of peanuts, 2 cups of corn oil, or 19 cups of spinach," the article said. Vitamin E is a generic term for a group of antioxidant compounds called tocotrienols and tocopherols. Studies have shown that antioxidant compounds protect the body from the formation of oxygen free-radicals -- unstable oxygen molecules that can line the interior of blood vessels -- thus restricting blood flow. The richest food sources of Vitamin E are vegetable oils, margarine, wheat germ, most nuts, and most vegetables, especially green, leafy ones. Since most of those sources -- with the exception of most vegetables -- are high in fat, experts recommend a daily supplement of 100 to 400 IU (international units). As well, many experts agree that the Recommended Daily Allowance of 15 IU for men and 12 IU for women is not enough for long-term health benefits and recommend taking a daily supplement. (Foods for the Future provides factual information to the media concerning food products, health and nutrition. It is a project of the T. Dean Reed Company and is supported by U.S. agribusiness.)
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