OKLAHOMA CITY, Jun 10, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Combining vitamin C with
insulin therapy may help prevent complications as a result of diabetes, U.S and
British scientists say.
The University of Oklahoma and the University of Warwick scientists said their
findings suggest anti-oxidant therapy may help diabetic patients whose sugar
levels are under control.
The vitamin C in this study was administered into the blood stream at high
doses. Similar results using over-the-counter supplements are unlikely, the
researchers said.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism,
said even when sugar is under control cell "memory" may cause damage to
continue. This damage -- known as endothelial dysfunction -- is associated with
many of the serious complications of diabetes, but antioxidants may help erase
this memory so cell functions normalize.
"We have speculated that this happens with endothelial dysfunction, but we did
not know until now if it was effective in humans. We finally were able to test
it and proved it to be true," Michael Ihnat of the University of Oklahoma
College of Medicine in Oklahoma City said in a statement.
"For patients with diabetes, this means simply getting their glucose under
control is not enough. An anti-oxidant-based therapy combined with glucose
control will give patients more of an advantage and lessen the chance of
complications with diabetes."
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