Vitamin C Supplements Improve Heart and Lung

Clinical Study Title:
Is vitamin C superior to diltiazem for radial artery vasodilation in patients awaiting coronary artery bypass grafting?

Plain English Summary:

In this study, vitamin C was compared to the use of diltiazem for helping to improve the function of the arteries. In one part of the study, the use of vitamin C supplements was compared for smokers versus nonsmokers. In the other part of the study, vitamin C and diltiazem were given randomly to patients prior to surgery. For the first part of the study, all the participants, smokers and nonsmokers, had an increase in their surface area, but smokers had more of a benefit from this effect. In the second part of the study, vitamin C was actually found to be more effect for vasodilatation than the diltiazem. This suggests that the use of a vitamin C supplement can help to improve heart and lung functioning and can help to improve overall functioning for those people who smoke.

Authors:
Drossos GE. Toumpoulis IK. Katritsis DG. Ioannidis JP. Kontogiorgi P. Svarna E. Anagnostopoulos CE.

Institution:
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece.

Country of Publication:
United States

Source:
Journal of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery. 125(2):330-5, 2003 Feb.