Vitamin slashes heart risk

Vitamin C reduces levels of a marker for inflammation--a protein that has been more strongly linked to heart disease than cholesterol levels.

A University of California, Berkeley, study reported in the April 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition shows that daily doses of 500 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C lower C-reactive protein (CRP) levels by 24 percent after 2 months.

The vitamin C must be taken by itself. Patients receiving an antioxidant containing vitamins C and E and alpha-lipoic acid experienced no significant CRP reduction. No one knows why, but it's possible that an interaction among the antioxidants rendered the mixture less effective.

High CRP readings indicate inflammation, which is increasingly blamed for heart disease in some people who have healthy levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. In fact, a large number of heart attack victims previously tested low for cholesterol.

CRP is also linked to diabetes and Alzheimer's disease risk.

Inflammation occurs as part of the body's defense against infection or injury. The body triggers the production of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6, which then trigger the production of CRP by the liver. How vitamin C cuts CRP levels is unclear, but the vitamin might block production of these cytokines.

Inflammation levels can go to 100-fold with an infection, although they drop after the infection cures.

Elevated CRP concentration have been found in obese people, indicating that obesity is associated with inflammation. This may help explain why overweight people are at an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer.

If the study results can be duplicated and the National Institutes of Health has awarded a grant for another trial of vitamin C to confirm the findings--vitamin C supplements may become an inexpensive intervention for heart disease.

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