Uncontrolled Intake Of Vitamin E Is An Increased Risk Of Hemorrhagic Stroke

Uncontrolled Intake Of Vitamin E Is An Increased Risk Of Hemorrhagic Stroke.
People who gobble up vitamin E supplements may be putting themselves at a disparage increased peril for a hemorrhagic stroke, researchers report. Some studies have suggested that taking vitamin E can safeguard against heart disease, while others have found that, in high doses, it might increase the chance of death. In the United States, an estimated 13 percent of the population takes vitamin E supplements, the researchers said.

And "Vitamin E supplementation is not as sheltered as we may like to believe," said result in researcher Dr Markus Schurks, who's with the division of preventive panacea at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Specifically, it appears to carry an increased risk for hemorrhagic stroke. While the imperil is low translating into one additional hemorrhage per 1250 persons taking vitamin E, widespread and unchecked use of vitamin E should be cautioned against," he added.

The announce is published in the Nov 5, 2010 online edition of the BMJ. For the study, Schurks and his colleagues did a meta-analysis, which is a criticize of published studies, that looked at vitamin E and the risk for stroke. There are basically two types of stroke: one where blood abundance to the brain is blocked, called an ischemic stroke, and one where vessels splitting and bleed into the brain, called a hemorrhagic stroke. Of the two, hemorrhagic strokes are more rare, but more serious, the researchers noted.

The investigate team looked at nine trials that included 118756 patients. Although none of the trials found an overall danger for stroke associated with vitamin E, there was a idiosyncrasy in the risk of the type of stroke.

The researchers found there were 223 hemorrhagic strokes among the 50334 people taking vitamin E, compared with 183 hemorrhagic strokes all the 50,414 people taking a placebo. That's a 22 percent increase in hemorrhagic stroke jeopardize among vitamin E users, Schurks's group noted.

However, for the risk of ischemic stroke, vitamin E was in truth mildly protective, reducing the risk of ischemic stroke 10 percent, the researchers found. Schurks said the unadulterated risk of having a hemorrhagic apoplexy linked to vitamin E is small - one additional hemorrhagic stroke for every 1250 population taking the supplement.

Vitamin E may prevent one ischemic stroke in 476 people taking the supplement, the researchers added. The researchers stressed that other ways of reducing the endanger of strokes - such as lowering blood pressure, taking cholesterol-lowering drugs and living a in good health lifestyle - have much more impact on preventing ischemic jot than vitamin E.

Dr Larry B Goldstein, director of the Duke University Stroke Center, said that "in totalling to the studies included in this analysis, a large randomized exploratory of a combination of antioxidant vitamins, including vitamin E, in patients with vascular disease or diabetes found no effectiveness on vascular events, including stroke, despite a significant increase in blood levels of the vitamins". There's also some details suggesting that antioxidant vitamins might interfere with the effects of statin medications reach-me-down to lower cholesterol levels in patients with vascular disease, he said example. "As there is no evidence of profit and at least the possibility of harm, these vitamin supplements should generally be avoided, or at least their use should be discussed with a medical doctor if being taken for a specific medical condition," Goldstein said.