Tuesday, June 13, 2006
ANOTHER CONTRADICTION
Taking B-Complex vitamins failed to prevent heart attacks and strokes in high risk patients...
Like a lot of other people, my wife and I have been taking B-Complex vitamins to lower our blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that has been implicated in heart attacks and strokes when present in high levels.
But wait! There's more! The study, as described in the online version of the New England Journal of Medicine (12 Mar 06), was conducted on patients that had already suffered an acute heart attack. So the conclusion was that taking various B vitamins (folic acid, B6 and B12) in combination didn't prevent a second heart attack. They went even further to state that the trend towards increased risk appears to be when taking them in combination.
So what does this mean for those of us that: a) have never had a heart attack, and b) are not in the high risk category? It doesn't address that aspect, as the study only included people who have had an acute heart attack.
I guess I'll continue taking them...
Like a lot of other people, my wife and I have been taking B-Complex vitamins to lower our blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that has been implicated in heart attacks and strokes when present in high levels.
But wait! There's more! The study, as described in the online version of the New England Journal of Medicine (12 Mar 06), was conducted on patients that had already suffered an acute heart attack. So the conclusion was that taking various B vitamins (folic acid, B6 and B12) in combination didn't prevent a second heart attack. They went even further to state that the trend towards increased risk appears to be when taking them in combination.
So what does this mean for those of us that: a) have never had a heart attack, and b) are not in the high risk category? It doesn't address that aspect, as the study only included people who have had an acute heart attack.
I guess I'll continue taking them...
