Study: Vitamins Don’t Prevent Preeclampsia

Large doses of vitamins C and E do not appear to prevent a major health problem of pregnancy, new research has found. The study of 10,000 pregnant women was the largest yet done. It confirms the results of several smaller studies. Preeclampsia is a problem that occurs in about 8% of pregnancies. The condition includes high blood pressure and protein in the urine. It can cause illness and death in both pregnant women and their babies. Doctors don’t know how to prevent it. The new study randomly divided women into two groups. They took either large doses of vitamins or fake pills. The women who took the vitamins were a bit more likely to develop high blood pressure. But the difference was so small it could have been caused by chance. The study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. USA Today wrote about it April 8.