Folic Acid and the Heart Turning Into Fast Friends
Aug. 31, 2000 -- High doses of folic acid -- a member of the B vitamin family -- seem to reduce levels of a substance called homocysteine and improve the way blood vessels work, according to Canadian researchers. This is one more piece of evidence that folic acid may play a useful role in preventing heart disease. However, experts emphasize that a healthy diet and exercise is still the only tried and true way to reduce heart disease risk.
"By using high-dose folic acid, we were able to lower homocysteine levels and improve artery function in a group of patients with ... heart disease," Lawrence Title, MD, tells WebMD. "These results, together with other studies, support the idea that folic acid may have a role to play in reducing the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events." Title is an author of the study and assistant professor of cardiology at Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Homocysteine is an amino acid, one of the building blocks of protein. Several studies have found that people with unusually high homocysteine levels appear to be at higher risk for heart disease and stroke. There is some evidence that folic acid and other B vitamins help break down homocysteine.
This study is published in the Sept. issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In this study, people were given either 5 mg of folic acid per day, or folic acid plus vitamins C and E, or a sugar pill. The usual dose of folic acid in a standard daily multivitamin is less than half a milligram, while this research tested the effect of more than 10 times that amount. Among the people who took folic acid, homocysteine levels declined by 11% and in the folic acid and vitamin C and E group, the levels decreased by 9%.
But because it is a small, short-term study, the results are suggestive but not conclusive. What we really want to know is whether folic acid can affect the number of people who have a heart attack, and the number who die from heart disease. Larger studies, looking at many more people over a longer period of time, are needed to answer those questions. Those studies are under way, but it will be four to five years before they have results, Title says.
Folic Acid and the Heart Turning Into Fast Friends
Aug. 31, 2000 -- High doses of folic acid -- a member of the B vitamin family -- seem to reduce levels of a substance called homocysteine and improve the way blood vessels work, according to Canadian researchers. This is one more piece of evidence that folic acid may play a useful role in preventing heart disease. However, experts emphasize that a healthy diet and exercise is still the only tried and true way to reduce heart disease risk.
"By using high-dose folic acid, we were able to lower homocysteine levels and improve artery function in a group of patients with ... heart disease," Lawrence Title, MD, tells WebMD. "These results, together with other studies, support the idea that folic acid may have a role to play in reducing the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events." Title is an author of the study and assistant professor of cardiology at Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Homocysteine is an amino acid, one of the building blocks of protein. Several studies have found that people with unusually high homocysteine levels appear to be at higher risk for heart disease and stroke. There is some evidence that folic acid and other B vitamins help break down homocysteine.
This study is published in the Sept. issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In this study, people were given either 5 mg of folic acid per day, or folic acid plus vitamins C and E, or a sugar pill. The usual dose of folic acid in a standard daily multivitamin is less than half a milligram, while this research tested the effect of more than 10 times that amount. Among the people who took folic acid, homocysteine levels declined by 11% and in the folic acid and vitamin C and E group, the levels decreased by 9%.
But because it is a small, short-term study, the results are suggestive but not conclusive. What we really want to know is whether folic acid can affect the number of people who have a heart attack, and the number who die from heart disease. Larger studies, looking at many more people over a longer period of time, are needed to answer those questions. Those studies are under way, but it will be four to five years before they have results, Title says.