When there is too much homocysteine in the blood, the risk of life-threatening cardiovascular disease can increase ninefold for affected people. There’s no disputing that. However, whether this risk can be lowered with the additional administration of certain vitamins was the subject of controversial discussion among experts last year. But a new study now shows that consistent and high-dose vitamin therapy can offer good protection against stroke and heart attack after all.
Removal of homocysteine by vitamins
Actually, homocysteine is a substance produced naturally in the body. It is formed as an intermediate product in human metabolism, but it is extremely toxic to the body’s cells and must therefore be rapidly broken down again or converted into less dangerous substances.
Responsible for the rapid and smooth removal of homocysteine are three vitamins: Folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6. A permanent deficiency of folic acid as well as the other two vitamins is therefore not without consequences. Homocysteine is no longer completely eliminated, its content in the blood increases, the walls of the blood vessels are attacked, the blood clots more easily, and deposits can form that impede the flow of blood. This is called hardening of the arteries or arteriosclerosis. It stands to reason that an improved vitamin supply could eliminate the problem.
Study in U.S. should shed light
Whether people who had already suffered a stroke could be prevented from relapsing by vitamin treatment was therefore to be tested in a large study in the United States. The result, however, disappointed the high expectations; no positive effect of vitamin administration could be demonstrated.
In the meantime, however, the scientists have subjected their study data to another critical analysis and discovered some sources of error. For example, the study did not take into account the fact that folic acid has been added as standard to flour in the USA and Canada since 1996. Low folic acid levels are rarely found in the population there and thus also in the untreated control group. Thus, a meaningful comparison with the treated patients was hardly possible. The vitamin B12 levels of the patients had also not been controlled well enough. If these sources of error are eliminated, the results are clearly more favorable for vitamin therapy. The risk of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases was reduced by more than 20 percent.
Situation in Germany
Estimates suggest that in approximately five to ten percent of the German population, homocysteine levels exceed the limit of 10 micromoles per liter. In order to find out whether one belongs to this risk group oneself, everyone over 50 should have a homocysteine determination carried out by a doctor, because homocysteine increases from about this age. Only a small blood sample is needed. Depending on the result, the doctor will either give the all-clear or recommend tablets containing a combination of the vitamins folic acid, B12 and B6.
People who already have known vascular problems will probably be advised by the doctor to take intensive therapy with vitamin injections, because this can reduce homocysteine back to harmless levels as quickly as possible.
