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Supplements: What's Hot - What's Not
Here at Cardiovascular Consultants we have been telling our patients
for the past few years that they do not need to take a vitamin E
supplement because studies show that they do not improve cardiac health.
Now according to a large study published in the November 2004 issue of the
Annals of Internal Medicine, high- dose vitamin E might even
slightly increase risk of death. This study was a meta-analysis (a
combination of all the large trials on a topic) that included over 135,000
participants in 19 clinical trials taking doses of vitamin E ranging from
16 units to 2000 IU per day. At doses of 400 IU or higher, a slightly
increased risk (five percent) of death was noted, with the risk increasing
to eight percent as the dose escalated up to 2,000 IU per day. A small
improvement in risk of death was noted when the dose was less than 100
IU.
Like all essential nutrients, vitamin E is important for health, but
more is not necessarily better. The CardioTabs multivitamin currently
contains 100 IU of the natural form of vitamin E, and that dose will be
reduced even further to 75 IU in the first quarter of 2005. At either of
these doses, small benefits appear to be present for the heart and the
brain. However, we do not recommend that you take a separate supplement of
vitamin E.
On the other hand, new studies are reported each month documenting the
impressive benefits of omega-3 supplements. What is good for the heart is
good for the brain. A study this year in the journal Stroke found
that omega-3 reduced the risk of stroke by about 31percent in people
eating fish five or more times per week. To achieve this level of intake
you need to take about three capsules of CardioTabs Omega-3 daily. Other
studies show remarkable similarity in the risks for heart disease and
Alzheimer's. Accordingly, we are finding that interventions to improve
heart health such as exercise, fish oil, statins, blood pressure lowering
drugs, aspirin, and a healthy diet are good for the brain too.
© 2005, Cardiovascular Consultants.
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