Vitamin B6 and Folic Acid protective from heart ailments

     The B-Complex Vitamins Vitamin B6 and Folic Acid have been shown through a number of studies to have value for protecting the heart, colon, and brain. In this new study Japanese researchers report that there is a reduced risk of heart failure in men and a lower risk of heart disease and stroke in women whose diets include relatively high amounts of these B vitamins; folate and vitamin B6.

     Osaka University’s Hiroyasu Iso, MD and colleagues evaluated data on 23,119 men and 35,611 women aged 40 to 79 who participated in the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study Group. Dietary questionnaire responses were analyzed for folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 levels. Subjects were followed for a median of 14 years, during which 2,087 deaths from cardiovascular disease occurred, including 424 deaths from coronary heart disease and 986 deaths from stroke.

     The researchers found an association between increased dietary folate and vitamin B6 intake and a reduction in mortality from coronary heart disease, stroke and total cardiovascular disease in women. Adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors or elimination of supplement users from the analysis failed to significantly impact the associations. For men, folate and vitamin B6 appeared to be protective against heart failure mortality. The study is published online ahead of print on April 15, 2010 in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.