Vitamin E Supplements Reduce Risk of Blood Clots in Women

Thursday, February 14, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: blood clots, thromboembolism, health news

(NewsTarget) Vitamin E supplements may reduce women's risk of developing potentially fatal blood clots, according to a new study published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.

"The data indicated that, in general, women taking vitamin E were 21 percent less likely to suffer a blood clot," the American Heart Association said.

In a condition known as venous thromboembolism, blood clots form in a patient's veins. If the clots prevent blood from flowing to the lungs, brain or heart, the condition can result in death.

Researchers reviewed data on 39,876 women who were taking part in the Women's Health Study. All participants were aged 45 or older. One group had been given 600 IU of vitamin E every other day for 10 years; the other group was given a placebo at the same frequency.

Over the course of 10 years, 482 women developed venous thromboembolism; 269 of these were in the placebo group, and only 213 were in the group being dosed with vitamin E. Researchers found that vitamin E appeared to have the greatest preventive benefit for women who already had a genetic predisposition toward developing blood clots.

The American Heart Association does not typically recommend antioxidant vitamin supplements like vitamin E to prevent cardiovascular conditions or diseases, such as venous thromboembolism. Echoing this caution, the study authors warned that patients should not replace blood thinning medications with a vitamin E treatment.

Nonetheless, the authors expressed hope that vitamin supplementation may help reduce women's risk of a common condition. "These data suggest that supplementation with vitamin E may reduce the risk of VTE in women, and those with a prior history or genetic predisposition may particularly benefit," they wrote.

"This study is another great example of myopic thinking by conventional medical researchers who continue to test isolated nutrients against disease symptoms," remarked Mike Adams, a holistic nutritionist and consumer health advocate. "The best cardiovascular protection comes from eating raw, natural sources of vitamin E and plant-based fats," Adams said. "Out of the thousands of phytonutrients from plants that work synergistically to protect the cardiovascular system from disease, most conventional medical researchers have yet to even fathom this synergistic action, much less openly recommend healing foods to heart patients."

"Conventional heart doctors remain stuck in the medicine of the 1950's," said Adams. "Didn't they get the memo? Drugs and surgery offer no real answers for lifelong cardiovascular health. Neither do isolated nutrients. Only whole foods, superfoods and plant-based diets can really protect people from degenerative disease."