Folic acid won't cut heart, stroke risk, study says

Taking a folic acid supplement does not cut the risk of heart disease or stroke in people with a history of cardiovascular ailments.

Researchers led by Dr. Lydia Bazzano of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans analyzed the results of 12 trials conducted since 2002 involving nearly 17,000 people.

Comparing people who had taken folic acid supplements for at least six months with those who had not, the study found virtually identical percentages of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke and all causes of death.

"We found that there was no benefit to using folic acid supplements in terms of cardiovascular disease risk or stroke risk," Bazzano said in an interview.

"We also found that there was no harm in terms of all-cause mortality. Using the supplements didn't seem to make you die any faster, which was good news," Bazzano added.

The findings appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Bazzano said folic acid remains extremely important for other reasons, namely for women planning to become pregnant or already pregnant to prevent major birth defects of the baby's brain and spine.

"Take it if you're a woman trying to get pregnant, absolutely. But if you're an older person who's already had a heart attack or has any form of vascular disease, this is not what you should be doing," Bazzano said.

Courtesy Reuters

Bonnie - let's make some sense out of this study. Folic acid is extremely important for older persons for mental acuity and bone health, among other benefits. This review study was a waste of money because using folic acid as a treatment to reduce cardiac risk in those who already have heart ailments is a joke. You could give one of these patients folic acid in mega doses in perpituity and it still would not make a difference. The fact that the length of these trials were only six months long is also outrageous. Finally, it was another dreaded "meta analysis" where the researchers review a bunch of trials at once.

Once again, the researchers have used studies that look at sick participants. As I have said incessantly with regards to folic acid for cardiac health, it is a preventative nutrient. It is not a therapeutic nutrient.

To study the protective effects of folic acid for heart health, the research must be long-term (at least 10-20 years) to get a consensus.