VITAMIN-C NUTRITURE AND RISK OF ATHEROSCLEROTIC HEART-DISEASE

There is substantial evidence for a role of dietary antioxidants in th e prevention of cardiovascular disease, but evidence for a protective effect of vitamin C is inconclusive. Two recent reports add to the sup porting evidence and provide some new observations. The first study a 5-year prospective population study of Finnish men, suggests that vita min C-deficient men may be at increased risk of myocardial infarction. The second study suggests that vitamin C may play a role in preventin g manifestations of existing coronary artery disease, rather than in l imiting disease progression. Although these results suffer from the li mitations of observational studies, they provide impetus for further i nvestigation.