Vitamin C lowers C-reactive protein.A recent article in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine reports the finding of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. Commonly referred to as UC Berkeley, Berkeley and Cal that supplementing with vitamin C reduces C-reactive protein (CRP C-reactive protein (CRP) A protein present in blood serum in various abnormal states, like inflammation. Mentioned in: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease CRP, n.pr See C-reactive protein. ),* a marker of inflammation linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Gladys Block, PhD, and her associates randomized ran·dom·ize tr.v. ran·dom·ized, ran·dom·iz·ing, ran·dom·iz·es To make random in arrangement, especially in order to control the variables in an experiment. 396 non-smokers to receive vitamin C, vitamin E, or a placebo for two months. Although no effect for vitamin C was noted among those with desirable CRP levels, for participants with elevated CRP, vitamin C lowered CRP by 0.25 mg/L compared with placebo, a reduction similar to that associated with statin drug treatment. "For people who have elevated CRP but not elevated LDL cholesterol, our data suggest that vitamin C should be investigated as an alternative to statins Statins A class of drugs commonly used to lower LDL cholesterol levels. Mentioned in: C-Reactive Protein , or as something to be used to delay the time when statin stat·in n. Any of a class of drugs that inhibit a key enzyme involved in the synthesis of cholesterol and promote receptor binding of LDL cholesterol, resulting in decreased levels of serum cholesterol. use becomes necessary," Dr. Block concluded. Reference * Block G, Jensen CD, Dalvi TB, et al. Vitamin C treatment reduces elevated C-reactive protein. Free Rad Biol Med. 2008 Oct 10. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion