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| Author | Anthony John Hewitt |
| Abstract | Cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for approximately 7.2 million deaths worldwide, as well as being a financial burden to health budgets in terms of treatment costs. CVD is no longer a disease associated only with the developed world, with rising mortality rates due to CVD being seen also in the developing world. This trait appears to be due to an increased consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol in the modern diet, leading to elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. It is thought that the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by free radicals is the main cause of damage in the initial stages of atherosclerosis, i.e. the narrowing of blood vessels. Vitamin E is the main antioxidant in the body and it is known that vitamin E makes low-density lipoprotein cholesterol resistant to oxidation. Thus, vitamin E may play a role in the prevention of CVD. While it is theorised that vitamin E plays a role in the prevention of CVD, cohort studies and randomised trials have so far been unable to provide a definite answer to this theory, mainly because there is still disagreement on how much vitamin E is needed in order to be of benefit in the prevention of CVD. Thus, this study focused on dietary vitamin E intake of a sample of patients who had been referred for myocardial perfusion scintigraphy during the period of February 2005 to May 2005. The vitamin E intake of 32 patients referred for myocardial perfusion scintigraphy was calculated using a food frequency questionnaire and compared to the results of the myocardial perfusion scintigram. It was found that the average vitamin E intake for a patient referred for myocardial perfusion scintigraphy is 14.16mg/day and patients who had normal myocardial perfusion did not have higher vitamin E intakes than patients who had abnormal myocardial perfusion when tested at the 95% level of confidence (t- score = 0.357). However, it was also found that patients who had abnormal myocardial perfusion consumed more oils and fats (60% of daily vitamin E intake) than patients who had normal myocardial perfusion (43.7% of daily vitamin E intake), although this was not found to be statistically significant when tested at the 95% level of confidence (t-score = 0.176). This is in agreement with larger studies, where higher vitamin E intakes are associated with a higher intake of oils and fats, especially polyunsaturated fats and it could not be excluded that this trend may in some way result in an increased risk for CVD. |
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| Key words | Vitamin E, Prevention, Cardiovascular Disease, Thesis, Nutrition |