September 3, 1997
Contact: Mary Burnette, (202) 872-1488
DOCTORS TAKE ANTIOXIDANT VITAMINS TO PREVENT HEART ATTACKS
More doctors take antioxidant supplements than take aspirin as a way to prevent heart attacks according to a study published in the June American Journal of Cardiology. While numerous studies have shown aspirin to be highly effective in preventing heart disease, 42 percent of cardiologists interviewed take aspirin and 44 percent take vitamin E, vitamin C, or beta carotene, alone or in combination. Thirty-seven percent of the physicians interviewed recommend antioxidants routinely to their patients with cardiovascular disease.
Vitamin E was the most commonly used antioxidant vitamin among the doctors interviewed (39 percent), followed by vitamin C (33 percent), and beta-carotene (19 percent). Twenty eight percent of the respondents took both aspirin and antioxidants. The most common daily dose reported was 400 international units of vitamin E; 500 milligrams of vitamin C; and 20,000 international units of beta carotene.
The survey was conducted among 181 members of the American College of Cardiology by Jason Mehta, a student at Eastside High School in Gainesville, Florida during the summer of 1996. Dr. Jawahar Mehta, professor of medicine and physiology at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, assisted his son with the survey.
Results of this survey reflect the growing acceptance of scientific evidence linking antioxidants to a reduced risk of heart disease. An epidemiologic study of 11,000 individuals, conducted by the National Institute on Aging, and published last year, showed that vitamin E supplements can lower total mortality rates by 27 percent, reduce the risk of heart disease mortality by 41 percent, and decrease cancer mortality by 22 percent. The Nurses' Health Study of 87,000 women found a 40 percent reduction in heart disease in the group with the highest level of vitamin E intake. And, the Cambridge Heart Antioxidant Study of 2,000 men and women showed the risk of non-fatal heart attack dropped 75 percent in those who took 400 to 800 international units of vitamin E daily.
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