Scientists from University College London have found that higher blood levels of vitamin C are associated with a lower risk of heart failure in older men, while vitamin E shows no similar benefit.
Vitamin C is a water-soluble nutrient commonly found in citrus fruits, berries, and many vegetables, and is also available as a supplement.
It plays an essential role in tissue repair, collagen production, immune defense, wound healing, and the maintenance of healthy cartilage, bones, and teeth.
Vitamin E, on the other hand, is a fat-soluble antioxidant whose main function is to protect cells from damage caused by free radicals. Oxidative stress, which arises when free radicals accumulate, has been shown to contribute to the development of heart failure, making antioxidants of great scientific interest.
Despite this background, the relationship between antioxidant intake, blood levels, and heart failure risk in older adults has not been well established.
In this study, researchers examined 3,919 men between the ages of 60 and 79 who did not have heart failure at the start of the study. Participants were followed for about 11 years, during which 263 men developed heart failure. The researchers analyzed both blood levels and dietary intakes of vitamins C and E.
The findings showed that men with higher vitamin C levels in their blood had a much lower risk of developing heart failure, regardless of whether they had previously experienced a heart attack. In contrast, blood levels of vitamin E were not linked to heart failure risk.
Interestingly, high dietary intake of vitamin E—something that correlated only weakly with blood vitamin E levels—was associated with a higher risk of heart failure in men without a history of heart attack.
Based on these results, the researchers concluded that higher blood levels of vitamin C appear to help reduce the risk of heart failure in older men, while vitamin E does not offer the same protective effect. They also noted that a high intake of dietary vitamin E might even be linked to increased risk in certain groups.
Because the study suggests a potential protective role of vitamin C, the team emphasized the need for further research to determine whether vitamin C supplementation could serve as a helpful intervention for preventing or managing heart failure in older adults.
The researchers cautioned that the study has several limitations. Most participants were white men, which means the findings cannot be directly applied to women, younger individuals, or people from other ethnic backgrounds. In addition, diagnoses of heart failure relied on clinical records, which may underestimate the true number of cases.
The research was published in Circulation: Heart Failure and conducted by Sasiwarang Goya Wannamethee and colleagues.
