Effects of vitamin C supplementation on the glycemic control and cardiovascular risk in Type II Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

The oral hypoglycaemic agents as well as injectable insulin does not significantly alter the oxidativestress in the diabetes mellitus patients. Being an antioxidant Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) might help in tackling theadversities of reactive oxygen species. A randomized placebo controlled study was carried out with parallelassignment of both the test group and control group of patients. The intervention model included metformin 500mgtwice daily and a placebo once daily for control group. Alternatively, Vitamin C chewable tablets were given for theother group along with metformin 500mg twice daily. Our study postulates that there is a significant reduction inthe fasting blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin levels, troponin T levels and Framingham risk score inparticipants who received ascorbic acid supplementation along with regular metformin. The supplementation ofVitamin C along with Metformin was well tolerated and did not cause any serious adverse drug reactions. Thecheaper cost adjuvant approach with Vitamin C may be beneficial in patients in reducing the cardiovascular risk aswell as to maintain an appropriate glycaemic control