subject: A New Function of Vitamin K [print this page] A New Function of Vitamin K A New Function of Vitamin K
People always relate the physical function of vitamin K with cruor. So this type of vitamin is often used to prevent and cure intracranial hemorrhage of the newborn and other blood diseases. However, in recent years, a great many experiments and surveys have indicated that vitamin K influences the quality of bones and the myocardial ischemia. Proper complement of vitamin K is beneficial to the health of bones and vascular condition. Osteoporosis of the infants is due to the lack of vitamin K. People, especially women, need to take vitamin K antagonists after they have received artificial valvular operations. Such drugs include dicoumarol, warfarin and acenocoumaro. As a result, in late 1970s, 30% of infants given birth by such patients suffered from severe osteoporosis. This gave rise to more relevant studies. Research has proved that drugs such as dicoumarol, warfarin and acenocoumaro would lead to many abnormal symptoms of bones. Further studies also have indicated that during the lack of vitamin K, osteocalcin could not be activated. It is the case with many old people. Complementing vitamin K can prevent arteriosclerosis. Animal tests have found out that when the little mouse's gene of protein was changed, the mouse soon would have the symptoms of arteriosclerosis. What's worse, it would die of aorta rupture in eight weeks after birth. The researchers also argued that the older women were the targets of vitamin K. After a three year- long investigation to 120 women from the age of 52 to 62, doctors have noticed one milligram of vitamin K a day can help these women make their blood vessels elastic. And the symptoms of calcify in auricle, nose, throat, trachea and cartilage will diminish or even disappear. Can we take vitamin K from diet? The answer is definitely yes. The vitamin K1 exists mainly in green vegetables like cabbage and broccoli, while the five members of the vitamin K2 family can only be found in meat, milk and eggs. Some research tells us that vitamin K1 is closely related to chloroplast. Therefore, the ingestion of vitamin K1 is not much. Its proportion is 5% t o15% in accordance with the ingestion of fat. Thanks to fat and lecithin, the ingestion of vitamin K2 is much easier than that of vitamin K1. At present, the average ingestion of vitamin K is 100 to 120 gammas a day. But the experts from Europe consider that another 100 gammas are needed.
