Vitamins Flunk Angioplasty Test.Antioxidant vitamins (1,400 IU of vitamin E vitamin E or tocopherol Fat-soluble organic compound found principally in certain plant oils and leaves of green vegetables. Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant in body tissues and may prolong life by slowing oxidative destruction of membranes. , 1,000 mg of vitamin C vitamin C or ascorbic acid Water-soluble organic compound important in animal metabolism. Most animals produce it in their bodies, but humans, other primates, and guinea pigs need it in the diet to prevent scurvy. , and 60,000 IU of beta-carotene a day) failed to keep arteries from closing up again after angioplasty (a procedure that opens clogged arteries with a tiny balloon). What's more, the arteries of people who took the antioxidant antioxidant, substance that prevents or slows the breakdown of another substance by oxygen. Synthetic and natural antioxidants are used to slow the deterioration of gasoline and rubber, and such antioxidants as vitamin C (ascorbic acid), butylated hydroxytoluene drug probucol were less likely to close up again than were those of people who took probucol plus the vitamins. "It's possible that the vitamins ... acted as pro-oxidants," wrote Jean-Claude Tardif and colleagues at the Montreal Heart Institute The Montreal Heart Institute (French: Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal), in Montreal, Quebec, is a specialty hospital dedicated to the development of cardiology. Founded in 1954, it is currently affiliated with the Université de Montréal. . That "might also explain the tendency for probucol to have better results when given alone than when combined with multivitamins." N. Eng. J. Med. 337: 365, 1997. |
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