Vitamin C
The evidence linking the water-soluble vitamin C with cardiovascular disease is less strong than that for vitamin E. In the Physicians' Follow-Up Study, a high intake of vitamin C was not associated with a lower risk of CHD in men, whereas in women from the Nurses Health Survey, an initial effect was attenuated after adjustment for multivitamin use. Only one prospective study, which involved 11,348 adults, demonstrated all inverse relationship between vitamin C intake and cardiovascular mortality. This effect was due largely to the use of vitamin C in supplements and may have been a reflection of other antioxidant vitamins in multivitamin preparations. A link between intake and carotid artery wall thickness has also been suggested.
Plasma levels were not correlated with coronary mortality rates among four European populations or with prevalent coronary disease in Finland. In the Basle Prospective Study, low levels of vitamin C alone did not increase the risk of CHD, although the risk of disease at low levels of both vitamin C and B-carotene was greater than that for ~-carotene alone. However, a prospective population study of 1605 healthy men aged 42 - 60 in Finland has recently shown that men who had vitamin C deficiency had a relative risk of MI of 2.5 after adjusting for the main risk factors for MI.
