E Gets an 'A' at Lowering Risk of Diabetes Complications
E Gets an 'A' at Lowering Risk of Diabetes Complications
July 10, 2000 -- Promising news for people with diabetes: high doses of vitamin E may help to prevent or reduce the severity of heart and blood vessel disease in people with type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, say researchers from the University of Texas.
People with type 2 diabetes had fewer signs of atherosclerosis, or narrowing of the arteries, after taking 1,200 international units of vitamin E -- 40 times the amount currently recommended by most nutritionists -- daily for three months. Atherosclerosis, a condition that causes dangerous narrowing or blockage of blood vessels, can lead to fatal heart attacks and strokes.
Diabetes researchers have known for many years that people with both type 1 (or "juvenile-onset") diabetes and type 2 (or "adult-onset") diabetes have a much greater risk than nondiabetics for developing heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney damage, and blindness.
Because vitamin E is known to be an antioxidant -- a vitamin that helps prevent cell damage and reduce blood levels of the harmful type of cholesterol -- clinical researchers have speculated that it could help prevent or at least reduce the risk for heart disease in people with diabetes. Until recently, however, most studies using vitamin E have shown little or no beneficial effect against the complications of diabetes.
"This study was funded by the American Diabetes Association to see what high-dose vitamin E would do to diabetic patients, looking at certain markers that predispose to heart disease," says I. Jialal, MD, PhD, in an interview with WebMD.
The researchers looked for evidence of damage and inflammation of blood vessels -- early signs of atherosclerosis -- and "we showed that we had a very significant [beneficial] effect with vitamin E, but more importantly, we also showed that vitamin E had anti-inflammatory effects in the diabetic." Jialal is director of the division of clinical biochemistry and human metabolism at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
There is a growing body of evidence to show that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory process somewhat similar to the way that a cut heals. When there is some type of damage to the walls of blood vessels -- either from high blood pressure, an infection, or an injury -- the immune system recruits repair cells and chemicals to repair the damage.
People with type 2 diabetes had fewer signs of atherosclerosis, or narrowing of the arteries, after taking 1,200 international units of vitamin E -- 40 times the amount currently recommended by most nutritionists -- daily for three months. Atherosclerosis, a condition that causes dangerous narrowing or blockage of blood vessels, can lead to fatal heart attacks and strokes.
Diabetes researchers have known for many years that people with both type 1 (or "juvenile-onset") diabetes and type 2 (or "adult-onset") diabetes have a much greater risk than nondiabetics for developing heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney damage, and blindness.
Because vitamin E is known to be an antioxidant -- a vitamin that helps prevent cell damage and reduce blood levels of the harmful type of cholesterol -- clinical researchers have speculated that it could help prevent or at least reduce the risk for heart disease in people with diabetes. Until recently, however, most studies using vitamin E have shown little or no beneficial effect against the complications of diabetes.
"This study was funded by the American Diabetes Association to see what high-dose vitamin E would do to diabetic patients, looking at certain markers that predispose to heart disease," says I. Jialal, MD, PhD, in an interview with WebMD.
The researchers looked for evidence of damage and inflammation of blood vessels -- early signs of atherosclerosis -- and "we showed that we had a very significant [beneficial] effect with vitamin E, but more importantly, we also showed that vitamin E had anti-inflammatory effects in the diabetic." Jialal is director of the division of clinical biochemistry and human metabolism at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
There is a growing body of evidence to show that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory process somewhat similar to the way that a cut heals. When there is some type of damage to the walls of blood vessels -- either from high blood pressure, an infection, or an injury -- the immune system recruits repair cells and chemicals to repair the damage.
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