Take Vitamins to Treat Heart Disease? Maybe Someday
Take Vitamins to Treat Heart Disease? Maybe Someday
Feb. 17, 2000 (Washington) -- Physicians may soon be able to prevent tens of thousands of heart disease deaths each year by treating patients with inexpensive vitamins to lower blood levels of an amino acid called homocysteine, just as they lower the risk of disease with drugs that lower bloodcholesterol, according to recent results presented here today at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Between 30% 40% of patients with heart disease, strokes, or clogged arteries in the legs have elevated blood levels of homocysteine, compared with about 5% in the general population, says Donald Jacobsen, PhD, who directs the Laboratory for Homocysteine Research at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio.
That and other observations led researchers to ask whether lowering homocysteine levels would lower the risk of heart disease, much like cholesterol-lowering drugs do. In addition, the level of homocysteine can be measured similar to cholesterol with a simple blood test.
But there's a crucial difference between cholesterol and homocysteine, says René Malinow, MD, of the Oregon Health Sciences University. Studies have shown clearly that lowering cholesterol lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke. In contrast, the jury is still out for homocysteine, he says.
To find out if lowering homocysteine levels keeps people from developing cardiovascular disease, more than 15 studies are underway, Malinow says. Teams of researchers are conducting these studies in the U.S., Canada, Norway, and elsewhere on more than 200,000 patients with a variety of types of heart disease or clogged arteries.
For example, Malinow and an international team of researchers have begun a study to see if lowering homocysteine levels will prevent further problems with cardiovascular disease in patients who have recently suffered a minor stroke. Malinow's team and others are treating the patients with a combination of vitamins, including folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6, which are known to lower homocysteine levels, he tells WebMD.
"We will know the answer in three to five years," Malinow says. In the meantime, physicians are debating whether to test for homocysteine and treat patients with elevated levels. "The conservative approach is, don't test, don't treat," because nobody knows yet if the treatment works, Malinow says. But he recommends that physicians test patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, such as those with high cholesterol or high blood pressure, and treat them if their homocysteine levels are too high.
Take Vitamins to Treat Heart Disease? Maybe Someday
Feb. 17, 2000 (Washington) -- Physicians may soon be able to prevent tens of thousands of heart disease deaths each year by treating patients with inexpensive vitamins to lower blood levels of an amino acid called homocysteine, just as they lower the risk of disease with drugs that lower bloodcholesterol, according to recent results presented here today at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Between 30% 40% of patients with heart disease, strokes, or clogged arteries in the legs have elevated blood levels of homocysteine, compared with about 5% in the general population, says Donald Jacobsen, PhD, who directs the Laboratory for Homocysteine Research at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio.
That and other observations led researchers to ask whether lowering homocysteine levels would lower the risk of heart disease, much like cholesterol-lowering drugs do. In addition, the level of homocysteine can be measured similar to cholesterol with a simple blood test.
But there's a crucial difference between cholesterol and homocysteine, says René Malinow, MD, of the Oregon Health Sciences University. Studies have shown clearly that lowering cholesterol lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke. In contrast, the jury is still out for homocysteine, he says.
To find out if lowering homocysteine levels keeps people from developing cardiovascular disease, more than 15 studies are underway, Malinow says. Teams of researchers are conducting these studies in the U.S., Canada, Norway, and elsewhere on more than 200,000 patients with a variety of types of heart disease or clogged arteries.
For example, Malinow and an international team of researchers have begun a study to see if lowering homocysteine levels will prevent further problems with cardiovascular disease in patients who have recently suffered a minor stroke. Malinow's team and others are treating the patients with a combination of vitamins, including folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6, which are known to lower homocysteine levels, he tells WebMD.
"We will know the answer in three to five years," Malinow says. In the meantime, physicians are debating whether to test for homocysteine and treat patients with elevated levels. "The conservative approach is, don't test, don't treat," because nobody knows yet if the treatment works, Malinow says. But he recommends that physicians test patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, such as those with high cholesterol or high blood pressure, and treat them if their homocysteine levels are too high.
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