Berkeley Wellness Alerts
October 11, 2011 | Comments: 0
B Vitamins: Good for Your Heart?
Some early studies suggested that folic acid and vitamin B12 might reduce the risk of heart disease. Subsequent research has been disappointing.
These B vitamins lower blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid associated with cardiovascular disease. But in a large well-designed British study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2010, heart attack survivors who took 2 milligrams of folic acid and 1 milligram of vitamin B12 daily for almost seven years were just as likely to have another heart attack as an equal number of survivors who took a placebo, even though their homocysteine levels dropped. The number of deaths due to a cardiovascular event was also virtually identical between the two groups.
“Taken together with the previous homocysteine-lowering trial,” the study authors concluded, “these results highlight the importance of focusing on drug treatments (aspirin, statins, and anti-hypertensive therapy) and lifestyle changes (in particular, stopping smoking and avoiding excessive weight gain) that are of proven benefit, rather than lowering homocysteine with folic acid supplements, for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.”
One piece of good news: The folic acid did not increase the risk of cancer, which has been a concern.
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