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November 28, 2006
Folic acid, homocysteine and cardiovascular health
In the British Medical Journal Wald et al contribute to the debate on whether reducing blood homocysteine levels with folic acid promotes cardiovascular health. In a strongly analytical paper they comprehensively assess the evidence and conclude that lowering homocysteine can indeed be protective. They also point out that carriers of certain genetic variants such as MTHFR C677T require up to 800 mcg folic acid in the diet to keep homocysteine at normal levels. The folic acid DRI for the average population is 400 mcg which may not be sufficient for 677T carriers and 800 mcg which is easily obtainable through diet or supplements is well below the USDA safe upper limits. The article ends: "The conclusion that homocysteine is a cause of cardiovascular disease explains the observations from all the different types of study, even if the results from one type of study are, on their own, insufficient to reach that conclusion. No single alternative explanation can account for all the observations. Since folic acid reduces homocysteine concentrations, to an extent dependent on background folate levels, it follows that increasing folic acid consumption will reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by an amount related to the homocysteine reduction achieved. We therefore take the view that the evidence is now sufficient to justify action on lowering homocysteine concentrations, although the position should be reviewed as evidence from ongoing clinical trials emerges." Read the commentary on nutraingredients.com the full paper is available online in the British Medical Journal...Posted at 04:19 AM
January 17, 2005
MTHFR, Folic Acid and Stroke Risk
From the BBC website: Blood chemical is a stroke risk High levels of an amino acid in the blood are associated with an increased risk of stroke, say researchers. Doctors have suspected that homocysteine is linked to stroke, but there has been no conclusive evidence. The London-based team looked at people genetically prone to high homocysteine levels and found they had a higher stroke risk than other individuals. The good news is that research suggests the risk can be reversed by taking folic acid, they told the Lancet. Read the full article on BBC News From the Lancet: Homocysteine and stroke: evidence on a causal link from mendelian randomisation Juan P Casas, Leonelo E Bautista, Liam Smeeth, Pankaj Sharma, Aroon D Hingorani Summary Background Individuals homozygous for the T allele of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism have higher plasma homocysteine concentrations (the phenotype) than those with the CC genotype, which, if pathogenetic, should put them at increased risk of stroke. Since this polymorphism is distributed randomly during gamete formation, its association with stroke should not be biased or confounded. We investigated consistency between the expected odds ratio for stroke among TT homozygotes, extrapolated from genotype-phenotype and phenotype-disease studies, and the observed odds ratio from a meta-analysis of genotype-disease association studies. Methods We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE up to June, 2003, for all relevant studies on the association between homocysteine concentration and the MTHFR polymorphism, and until December, 2003, for those on the association between the polymorphism and the risk of stroke....Posted at 11:19 AM
December 13, 2004
Folic Acid Fortification Remains an Urgent Health Priority
A reply to the recent Folate controversy Charles and colleagues report a non-statistically significant association between short term prenatal consumption of folic acid and breast cancer.1 As the authors note, even though these data are from a randomised controlled trial, they had no prespecified hypothesis. The randomised controlled trial sought to evaluate the effect of antenatal folate consumption and pregnancy outcomes, not breast cancer. Only 31 breast cancer deaths were found, and the confidence intervals were wide and include one. We believe that the most likely explanation for the reported association is chance. Read on in the BMJ Godfrey P Oakley, research professor, Jack S Mandel, Rollins professor and chair...Posted at 11:04 AM
December 03, 2004
Genetics and Variation in Response to Exercise
Some people are 'immune' to exercise 10:45 02 December 04 Public-health campaigns regularly plug exercise as a sure-fire way to avoid an early grave. But that message may be too simplistic. For an unhappy few, even quite strenuous exercise may have no effect on their fitness or their risk of developing diseases like diabetes. “There is astounding variation in the response to exercise. The vast majority will benefit in some way, but there will be a minority who will not benefit at all,” says Claude Bouchard of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, US. Read on in New Scientist......Posted at 11:03 AM
Lack of Folate, Carotenoids Raising Heart Disease Levels in CEE
Source:Nutraingredients.com Lack of folate, carotenoids raising heart disease levels in CEE 02/12/2004 - Diets low in foods containing folate and carotenoids may be a major contributing factor to the high rate of heart disease in Central and Eastern Europe, say researchers. A dramatic increase in heart disease in this region is responsible for the strong decline in life expectancy in many newly independent states in Central and Eastern Europe, writes the team from the US-based Oregon Health and Science University in this month's issue of the Journal of American Dietetic Association (vol 104, issue 12, pp1793-9). Read on......Posted at 10:59 AM
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