Most US women face stroke risk

Regular doses of vitamin E may reduce the risk of life-threatening blood clots in women,researchers reported recently.But they cautioned that more research is needed to confirm the link in the prevention of the clots,known as venous thromboembolism,and said patients should not stop taking prescribed blood thinners."The data indicated that,in general,women taking vitamin E were 21% less likely to suffer a blood clot," the American Heart Association,which published the finding in its journal Circulation ,said in a statement.

In one of the first studies to examine the relationship between diet and brain lesions,researchers observed that elderly people who reported higher calcium and vitamin D intake were much more likely to have greater volumes of brain lesions-regions of damage that increase risk of cognitive impairment."Our finding of a relationship between brain lesions and consumption of both calcium and vitamin D raises the question about a possible down side to high intakes of these nutrients,"Martha E Payne of Duke University,Durham,North Carolina,said.Higher intakes of calcium and vitamin D have been promoted in recent years as a way to prevent bone loss with ageing.

Extra vitamin supplements can reduce the risk of having an underweight or undersized baby, and all pregnant women in developing countries should take them,researchers said.But the team, reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine ,said the supplements did not lower the likelihood of premature birth or losing the foetus before birth.The study,conducted in Tanzania,involved 8468 pregnant women who received iron and folic acid supplements. Half were given supplements containing vitamins C,E and a mix of B vitamins.The foetal death rate stayed around 5% and the rate of premature delivery was nearly 17% regardless of whether the mothers got the vitamins.