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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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