B Vitamins and Strokes
Not everything is easily prevented by popping a pill. But strokes? Maybe.
Both folate and vitamin B12 seem to reduce the risk of a very common kind of stroke. Here’s how much you need.
It’s All About Homocysteine
In a study, men who had the highest folate intake reduced their risk of ischemic stroke by about 30 percent. The study is part of a growing body of research showing that both folate and vitamin B12 lower levels of homocysteine, and that may be the key to their stroke-stopping powers. High blood levels of homocysteine are linked to cardiovascular problems like stroke.
Where to Get It
Your diet is a good source of folate and B12. But you should also take a multivitamin with folate and vitamin B12 daily, to help make sure you get enough on a regular basis
Too-high homocysteine hurts your brain, too.
Data from the Framingham Offspring Study provide more evidence that increasing levels of homocysteine are associated with lower cognitive functioning in adults older than 60, but not in younger and middle-aged adults. The finding suggests to researchers that folate and vitamin B6 and B12 supplements may help prevent homocysteine-related cognitive decline.
“My concern,” Dr. Merrill F. Elias said, “is that many physicians still do not routinely include homocysteine determinations as part of the physical examination.”
High levels of homocysteine are related to risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease and must be controlled for when relating homocysteine to cognitive ability, the Boston University researcher explained.
For persons over age 60 in the Framingham Offspring Study, statistically significant inverse associations between plasma total homocysteine and multiple cognitive domains were evident, regardless of adjustment for risk for stroke, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, vitamins B6, B12, and folate, he and colleagues report in the October 1st issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Want foods with Folate? click the link!
folate, homocysteine, stroke
January 14th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
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