Can Dietary Supplements with Folic Acid or Vitamin B6 Reduce Cardiovascular Risk? Design of Clinical Trials to Test the Homocysteine Hypothesis of Vascular Disease
Moderately elevated levels of blood total homocysteine have been identified as a potentially important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Many studies, conducted in various settings, have reported that patients with coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease, have higher homocysteine levels than controls. The initial studies were case-control (or 'retrospective') studies, which compared homocysteine levels in samples from cases, collected after the onset of disease, with those in controls. Weaker associations have reported in some prospective studies in which blood was taken some years before vascular disease was diagnosed, and no association was reported in others. Read More.
Moderately elevated levels of blood total homocysteine have been identified as a potentially important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Many studies, conducted in various settings, have reported that patients with coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease, have higher homocysteine levels than controls. The initial studies were case-control (or 'retrospective') studies, which compared homocysteine levels in samples from cases, collected after the onset of disease, with those in controls. Weaker associations have reported in some prospective studies in which blood was taken some years before vascular disease was diagnosed, and no association was reported in others. Read More.