American Heart Association can't ignore the facts
Should vitamin E be used to ward off blood clots? Or, should it be tossed out in ongoing attack on the use of safe and simple, non-prescription—beneficial— remedies?
Such is the dilemma of mainstream medicine. The complication comes as the result of a new study that showed vitamin E may reduce the risk of these deadly blood clots in women. I'll add that this isn't the only positive finding in regards to vitamin E. And we're not talking about a tiny study, but one that spanned a decade and included 39,876 women. These women were taking part in the larger, long-term Women's Health Study.
Each of the participants (all over the age of 45) received either 600 IU's of vitamin E or a placebo. They were instructed to take them every other day over the 10-year period. None of the participants knew whether they were taking the vitamin or the placebo.
The results showed that the women who were taking vitamin E were 21 percent less likely to suffer a blood clot. Over the 10 years, 213 women receiving vitamin E and 269 women who were receiving placebo suffered a venous thromboembolism. This is when blood clots form in the deep veins and often break loose into the circulatory system, traveling to the lungs.
The researchers noted that these blood clots, which can be fatal, are quite common. They just don't get much press or attention. In fact, during this study, these clots occurred more often than heart attacks.
Some folks are genetically predisposed to getting these clots, and the research results indicated that vitamin E was even more beneficial for them.
Interestingly, these findings were published by the American Heart Association. These are the very same folks who, in the recent past, recommended that women skip taking antioxidants, including vitamin E, for the prevention of heart disease. They've taken a hard line stance, saying that studies haven't proven any real benefit when it comes to cardiovascular health. So as to not cut their nose off to spite their face and paint themselves in a corner, they left the door open by saying that more research was needed on the subject.
If you have a personal or family history of DVT, then I recommend by all means go for the 600 IU's per day, as the study shows. Otherwise, I think it's quite reasonable to give yourself 200 to 400 IU's of vitamin E per day, an amount present in many premium twice-per-day multivitamins.
And please make sure you get a full spectrum vitamin E formula that includes both alpha- and gamma-tocopherol forms with mixed tocopherols. This way you get the full antioxidant benefit of the entire vitamin. If you take the alpha- tocopherol form alone, it could cause a relative deficiency of the desirable gamma form—the one that actually protects your LDL cholesterol from harmful oxidation. (The Perque brand fits this bill, but is only sold through doctors and healthcare professionals. Go to www.perque.com to learn more.)
