May 15, 2008 – Taking vitamin B6, B9 and B12 supplements would not have a protective effect on the hearts of women at high risk for heart disease, according to researchers at Harvard University.
The clinical trial1 was conducted among 5,442 women aged 42 and over, considered to be at high risk of suffering from a heart attack or stroke. For more than seven years, the participants took a daily supplement of vitamin B6, folic acid (vitamin B9) and vitamin B12 or a placebo. At the end of the trial, 796 of the women had had a cardiovascular event: 406 were in the supplement group and 390 were in the placebo group.
The supplement lowered the subjects’ homocysteine (an amino acid) levels, but had no effect on the number of heart attacks or deaths from heart disease.
Its results once again contradict the hypothesis according to which a high blood level of homocysteine is a risk factor for cardiovascular disorders. Several studies have shown that although high doses of vitamins B6, B9 and B12 lowered participants’ homocysteine levels, the risk of relapse or death from stroke was not reduced.
The majority of these trials having been conducted on men, the American researchers wanted to know if these vitamins could not help prevent cardiovascular disorders in women.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to Science Daily.
1. Albert CM, Cook NR, et al. Effect of folic acid and B vitamins on risk of cardiovascular events and total mortality among women at high risk for cardiovascular disease: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2008 May 7; 299 (17): 2027-36.
