Vitamin C Levels May Indicate Stroke Risk

Vitamin C Levels May Indicate Stroke Risk

KUOPIO, Finland--Low plasma vitamin C indicated a 2.4-foldincrease in the risk for stroke, according to researchers from the University ofKuopio who published a paper in the June issue of Stroke (33, 6:1568-73,2002) (http://stroke.ahajournals.org).Researchers conducted a 10.4-year prospective, population-based cohort study of2,419 randomly selected middle-aged men (aged 42 to 60 years) with no history ofstroke at baseline. A total of 120 men developed a stroke, of which 96 wereischemic (obstruction of the inflow of arterial blood) and 24 hemorrhagic(discharge of blood from the vessels). Researchers noted that men with thelowest levels of plasma vitamin C had a 2.4-fold risk of any stroke comparedwith men at the highest levels of plasma vitamin C, after adjustment for age andexamination months. In addition, researchers noted that hypertensive men withthe lowest vitamin C levels had a 2.6-fold increased risk and overweight menwith low plasma vitamin C had a 2.7-fold increase for any stroke.