DIABETICS MAY BENEFIT FROM VITAMINS.Byline: Jack Challem Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire Preliminary evidence suggests that vitamins C and E may help reduce the complications of diabetes, researchers reported here at a scientific meeting sponsored by the American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association, or the ADA, is an American health organization providing diabetes research, information and advocacy. Founded in 1940, the American Diabetes Association conducts programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, reaching hundreds of . Diabetics have abnormally high levels of blood sugar, or glucose. This buildup of glucose has been implicated im·pli·cate tr.v. im·pli·cat·ed, im·pli·cat·ing, im·pli·cates 1. To involve or connect intimately or incriminatingly: evidence that implicates others in the plot. 2. in the production of dangerous molecules known as free radicals, experts said. Free radicals may trigger a cascade of undesirable chemical reactions, leading to what scientists call ``oxidative stress oxidative stress, n an imbalance of the prooxidant antioxidant ratio in which too few antioxidants are produced or ingested or too many oxidizing agents are produced. .'' ``Diabetics are under tremendous oxidative stress,'' said Dr. John M. C. Gutteridge, a researcher at the Royal Brompton Hospital The Royal Brompton Hospital, commonly known as The Brompton, is a specialist heart and lung hospital in Brompton, London. It is part of the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust. It is also the main hospital for allergy testing in London. in London. The consequences for diabetics are believed to be an above-average risk of heart disease, blindness, kidney disease Kidney Disease Definition Kidney disease is a general term for any damage that reduces the functioning of the kidney. Kidney disease is also called renal disease. , nerve damage and, in women, miscarriage. A large number of animal experiments have found that antioxidants Antioxidants Substances that reduce the damage of the highly reactive free radicals that are the byproducts of the cells. Mentioned in: Aging, Nutritional Supplements antioxidants, n. , such as vitamins C and E, may counter oxidative stress, experts said. But few studies have been conducted with people. Dr. Ishwarlal Jialal of the University of Texas Southwestern Medicine Center in Dallas described recent experiments in which he gave diabetic and nondiabetic people 1,200 international units (IU) of vitamin E daily. After eight weeks, the vitamin slowed a key process that leads to a buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries, he reported. ``In my own practice, I suggest to my patients with atherosclerosis that they take 400 IU of vitamin E daily,'' Jialal said. But it would be premature to make widespread recommendations, he added. |
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