Vitamins Aid Postoperative Breathing Problems

Patients who have had a major abdominal operation experienced fewer breathing problems after being given a cocktail of vitamins C and E, according to researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center (The Netherlands).

Following an abdominal operation, most patients have frequent episodes of airway obstruction and hypoxemia, which can lead to an increased heart rate and blood pressure and eventually result in a heart attack or heart muscle damage. The researchers discovered that the sedatives and painkillers given the patients were enhancing each other's undesirable side effects. After some experimentation, they found that vitamins C and E could prevent many of the breathing problems. In a test, they found that a group of healthy men receiving less oxygen than normal for three minutes who received vitamins C and E experienced fewer disruptions to breathing than a control group.

Future studies are planned, in which the researchers want to determine whether vitamin C has to be given in combination with vitamin E. The researchers also want to focus on the carotid body, which appears to function poorly in recovering patients.




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