7 Healthcast: Vitamin C & stroke

At 35 years old and with four healthy kids, Julie Ford says she's lucky she's here to raise them.

"The main artery in my neck is what was hurting so bad. That's what scared me because I knew it wasn't right," stroke victim Julie Ford said.

It wasn't- Julie was having a stroke, and the early signs were all there.

"The whole time I was pregnant I had really bad migraines and really high blood pressure," Ford said.

Now there is news that a simple supplement could help prevent strokes.

"Well it certainly appears that people who have high levels of Vitamin C typically do better or have less likelihood of having a stroke," said ER Dr. Elliot Trotter.

Dr. Elliot Trotter points to new research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study finds people with the highest concentrations of Vitamin C had a 42 percent lower risk of stroke.

"There's been no study that shows taking too much vitamin c can harm you in any way, so it wouldn't be bad to take an extra vitamin c everyday", Dr.Trotter said.

Julie who is now on several blood pressure medications is adding C to her daily diet.

"Vitamin C is in your vitamins, in your OJ, anything you use, really Vitamin C is there," Ford said.

The study's authors point out that people with higher levels of Vitamin C are also generally healthier and therefore that may be why they have a lower risk of stroke.

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