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Update Exclusive New study finds vitamin E supplements
reduce heart attacks and heart disease deaths in diabetics
The results of a study published in the November 2004 issue of the
American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes Care (http://care.diabetesjournals.org/)
demonstrate that approximately 40 percent of diabetics can lower
their risk of experiencing a heart attack and dying from heart disease
by taking a vitamin E supplement.
Diabetes greatly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease,
as well as other disorders. A team at the Technion-Israel Institute
of Technology led by Dr. Andrew Levy of the Faculty of Medicine
had discovered that diabetics with the 2-2 form of a blood protein
known as haptoglobin experienced up to a 500% increased risk of
developing heart disease. Approximately 40 percent of all diabetics
have this form of haptoglobin.
The cause of the increased risk is due to haptoglobin 2-2 being
a poor antioxidant compared to the other two haptoglobin types.
Diabetics create more free radicals that destroy antioxidants, leaving
this group with a greater antioxidant deficiency than others with
the condition. Free radical damage is one of the factors involved
in the development of cardiovascular disease and numerous other
disorders experienced by diabetics and other individuals.
In the current study, Dr Levy and colleagues analyzed serum samples
from the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) trial, which
studied the effect of antioxidants on cardiovascular disease. They
found that when diabetics with the 2-2 form of haptoglobin consumed
400 international units of vitamin E per day, their heart attack
risk was lowered by 43 percent, and the risk of dying from heart
disease was reduced by 55 percent. A five year trial involving 2,000
diabetics with haptoglobin 2-2 is currently being conducted in Israel
to confirm these results. Dr Levy commented, "If this larger
study confirms our findings, the public health implications will
be huge. Vitamin E would represent an inexpensive and safe way to
reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and heart attack in a significant
proportion of diabetic patients."
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| Protocol
Diabetes
Diabetes independently imposes such stress upon the heart and vascular
system that the diabetic frequently succumbs from a cardiovascular
event rather than the disease itself.
Hyperglycemia and excesses of ineffective insulin cause rampant
free-radical activity, lipid peroxidation, glycation (the pathological
union of protein and sugar), and increased inflammation (Sears 1999).
Impotence, depression, cataracts, glaucoma, atherosclerosis, and
dementia often negatively impact a diabetic's quality of life.
Vitamin E's antioxidant properties and its ability to enhance insulin's
responsiveness are but a few of the reasons the nutrient should
be included in a diabetic protocol. This was clearly evidenced in
a 4-month study reported in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition with subjects receiving (approximately) 900 mg of
vitamin E a day. The researchers assessed how well 15 Type II diabetics
and 10 healthy controls tolerated glucose before and after vitamin
E supplementation. In healthy subjects, glucose removal from the
blood increased 17%. In diabetics, total glucose removal increased
47% and nonoxidative glucose metabolism increased 63%. The study
established that pharmacologic doses of vitamin E in Type II diabetes
improve insulin's action and reduce free-radical activity (Paolisso
1993b).
Vascular endothelial dysfunction (an early marker of atherosclerosis)
has been demonstrated in Type II diabetes mellitus. It appears hyperglycemia
is particularly destructive to endothelial cells because it increases
oxidative stress and impairs the activity of nitric oxide, the endothelial
derived relaxing factor (Giugliano et al. 1995). Oxidative injury
may be increased in diabetes mellitus because of a weakened defense
due to reduced endogenous antioxidants (vitamin E and reduced glutathione).
With compromised nitric oxide activity, diabetic-cardiovascular
complications (smooth muscle proliferation, platelet activation/aggregation,
and leukocyte adherence to the endothelium) are compounded.
Some of the strongest recent evidence of a vitamin E-diabetes benefit
comes from researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center in Dallas. Scientists found that vitamin E (1200 IU daily)
reduced the risk of heart failure in 75 diabetics by curtailing
vascular inflammation in the heart. Left unchecked, inflammation
can cause cardiac vessels to swell, promoting cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Sridevi Devaraj, assistant professor of pathology and lead researcher,
termed the end results of the study very encouraging (Devaraj 2001).
Last, elevated levels of CRP, an inflammatory marker, have recently
been found to predict the development of Type II diabetes. A newer
finding relating to the functions of vitamin E is that high dose
vitamin E lowers CRP. Administering 1200 IU of alpha-tocopherol
(daily for 3 months) lowered CRP levels by 30%. CRP levels remained
reduced 2 months postsupplementation. By preventing vascular inflammation,
many of the complications arising from diabetes are overcome (Devaraj
et al. 2000).
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-042.shtml
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Featured
Products
Gamma
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The primary purpose of supplementing with vitamin E is to suppress
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New research shows that sesame lignans increase gamma-tocopherol
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R-Dihydro-Lipoic
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When alpha-lipoic acid (which consists of 50 percent “R”
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where the main action of lipoic acid is initiated.
R-dihydro-lipoic acid is the reduced (or active) form of R-lipoic
acid. R-dihydro-lipoic acid produces the majority of the results
attributed to R-lipoic acid and alpha-lipoic acid. When R-dihydro-lipoic
acid reacts with a free radical, it is oxidized back to R-lipoic
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By consuming R-dihydro-lipoic acid, you are obtaining the form
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Extension Super Sale Starts Today
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Super Sale begins! For a nine-week period, ending January 31, 2005,
Super Sale offers our valued customers deep discounts off our already
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For longer life,
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Editor, Life Extension Update
ddye@lifeextension.com
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