Vitamin E can help protect arteries from damage caused by smoking, according to a new study by scientists in Austria.
Source:	Food for the Future
Date:	February 8, 2000
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Vitamin E can help protect arteries from damage caused by smoking, according to a new study by scientists in Austria. Researchers at the University of Vienna and the University of Innsbruck studied "whether chronic or acute impairment of (blood) flow ... in the brachial artery of smokers can be restored or preserved by the antioxidant Vitamin E." Testing 22 healthy male smokers and 11 male non-smokers, the scientists gave 600 international units of Vitamin E in supplement form daily to part of the group, with others receiving a placebo. For the smokers, ultrasound examinations were given two hours after cessation of smoking, and it was determined that artery function was helped "after heavy smoking due to an improvement of the oxidative status." While "transient impairment" was improved, tests given over a four-week period were not shown to affect long-term, chronic harm to arteries, however. "These results demonstrate that oral supplementation of Vitamin E can attenuate transient impairment of endothelial function after heavy smoking due to an improvement of the oxidative status," the researchers concluded, "but cannot restore chronic endothelial dysfunction within four weeks in healthy male smokers." (Endothelial dysfunction refers to impairment of artery walls and their cell lining, called the endothelium.) Earlier research has shown that cigarette smoking promotes so-called "free radicals" in the bloodstream. Free radicals are harmful molecules that cause oxidation or damage to the artery lining; Vitamin E, acting as an antioxidant, has been shown to fight off the unhealthy free radical molecules. Results of the new Austrian tests were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The tests were conducted by a team of 10 medical researchers led by Dr. Thomas Neunteufl of the University of Vienna Medical School. ## SOURCE Foods for the Future Weight of Scientific Evidence Seen for Vitamin E: Supplements Needed to Help Prevent Heart Disease January 28, 2000 11:56 AM EST