Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 for Healthy Hearts

By HospiMedica staff writers
Posted on 29 Aug 2001

A study has found that folic acid and vitamin B12 offer a cost-effective treatment for heart disease and can reduce the number of deaths due to this disease. Conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF, USA), the study was published in the August 22, 2001, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The UCSF researchers studied data on homocysteine levels. Previous studies have demonstrated that people with modestly elevated homocysteine levels have higher rates of stroke, heart attack, and death from heart disease compared to people with normal levels. Recent clinical trials have shown that folic acid can lower homocysteine levels by 25%, while the addition of vitamin B12 can decrease levels by another 7%. In 1998, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated that all enriched grain products in the U.S. contain 140 micrograms of folic acid per 100 g.

The researchers used a computer model to project the effects of these supplements on the homocysteine levels of all women and men aged 35-84 if treated over a ten-year period, from 2001-2011. The results showed that heart disease rates and deaths would decrease by 8% in women and 13% in men. Among known patients with heart disease and elevated homocysteine levels, 310,000 fewer heart-disease-related deaths were projected to occur over a ten-year period if these people added a folic acid (1 mg) and vitamin B12 (0.5) supplement to their daily dose of grains enriched with folic acid.

"For most people, especially those with heart disease, taking a folic acid and vitamin B12 supplement is projected not only to be safe and save lives, but also to save money because it prevents heart disease and the costs associated with expensive medical treatments and procedures,” said Lee Goldman, M.D., senior author of the study. He added that a projected US$24 billion would be saved over the ten-year period if men and women with heart disease were treated with the supplements.

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