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Article: Vitamin C and heart disease.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
- Article from:
- Townsend Letter: The Examiner of Alternative Medicine
- Article date:
- July 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Townsend Letter Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The few species, which include humans, that do not make their own vitamin C suffer a condition called atherosclerosis, in which white plaques narrow the arteries. This disease has been misnamed "heart disease," because it often leads to a heart attack. The disease is not prevalent in species that make their own vitamin C.
Heart disease is a misnomer because there is no malfunction of the heart. The underlying disease process is characterized by scab-like build-ups that adhere to the walls of blood vessels. As the arteries narrow, the blood supply to the heart and the other organs is reduced, resulting in angina ("heart cramp"), heart attack, and/or stroke. The ...