Relationship between vitamin C levels in blood and risk of stroke
Relationship between vitamin C levels in blood and risk of stroke
Recent research suggests that having higher levels of vitamin C in blood may help reduce the risk of stroke.
According to the study, people who had the highest concentrations of vitamin C had a stroke risk 42% lower than those with lower levels. However, this finding does not mean that taking large doses of vitamin C supplements can prevent cerebrovascular accident (CVA), experts warned.
The study’s authors noted that despite the results, we can not confirm that vitamin C directly lowers stroke risk. Vitamin C may be an indicator of a healthy lifestyle and probably elevated blood levels of vitamin C means that a person considered to be more health, said Dr. Keith Siller, medical director of the Center’s full attention of the Stroke Center Medical University of New York.
Dr. Levine, head of the section of molecular and clinical nutrition U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, agrees with Siller, and believes that it is only an association. “People who eat fruits and vegetables in large quantities may consume less junk food.”
The current study was to analyze data from more than 20000 people aged 40 to 79 years in the UK. Participants completed a health questionnaire and blood samples to determine levels of vitamin C. Follow up was for about 9.5 years and during that period 448 of the assessed suffered a stroke.
After considering other risk factors such as sex, smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, alcohol consumption, physical activity and family history of heart disease, the researchers found that individuals who had higher levels of vitamin C in blood had a 42% lower risk of suffering a stroke as those with lower levels of the vitamin.
According to the study, the difference in vitamin C levels between the highest group and the lowest result in about a fruit or vegetable a day.
The authors claim that the inverse association between plasma vitamin C and stroke suggests that vitamin C could be a good biomarker of whatever causal factors affect stroke risk, the most feasible, the daily intake of plant foods.