Queen Mary research shows Folic acid cuts heart disease and stroke risk

Dr David Wald

23 November 2006

New research shows folic acid may be used to combat heart disease and strokes.

Dr David Wald, Senior Lecturer in Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine and Consultant Cardiologist at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry and his team say the scientific evidence is strong enough to justify using folic acid as a cheap and simple way of reducing heart disease and strokes,

The findings, published in the BMJ on Friday 24 November 2006, stem from the debate over whether raised homocysteine levels in the blood cause heart disease and stroke. In attempting to solve this riddle Dr Wald examined all the evidence from different studies to see whether raised homocysteine is a cause of cardiovascular disease.

One category of studies he examined looked at homocysteine and the occurrence of heart attacks and strokes in large numbers of people (cohort studies). Another looked at people with a common genetic variant which leads to small increases homocysteine levels (genetic studies). The results from studies that have tested the effects of lowering homocysteine levels (randomised controlled trials) were also examined.

Together with colleagues, he found that the cohort studies and genetic studies yielded similar results, indicating a protective effect from lower homocysteine levels, even though they were not prone to the same sources of error. The randomised trials were too small and of too short duration to be conclusive. Their results were however consistent with the expected protective effects of folic acid.

Their conclusion that homocysteine causes heart attacks and strokes is based on an assessment of all these sources of evidence. Since folic acid reduces homocysteine concentrations, increasing folic acid consumption can be expected to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. They believe that increasing folic acid intake is therefore now justified,  whilst reviewing the position as evidence from ongoing clinical trials emerges.

Dr Wald said: "Folic acid is a much undervalued vitamin. Not only does it prevent the serious birth defect spina bifida, but the evidence that it can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke is becoming increasingly persuasive".

Ends

For more information, please contact:

Dr David Wald
Senior Lecturer and Consultant Cardiologist
Centre for Environmental and Preventive Medicine
Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine
Tel: +44 (0)20 7882 6298
email: d.s.wald@qmul.ac.uk

For further information, please contact:

Katrina Alcock
Communications Officer
Queen Mary, University of London
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7882 5404
email: k.alcock@qmul.ac.uk

Notes to Editors:

Queen Mary, University of London

Queen Mary, University of London is one of the UK's leading research-focused higher education institutions with some 15,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Amongst the largest of the colleges of the University of London, Queen Mary’s 3,000 staff deliver world class degree programmes and research across 21 academic departments and institutes, within three sectors: Science and Engineering; Humanities, Social Sciences and Laws; and the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Queen Mary is ranked 11th in the UK according to the Guardian analysis of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, and has been described as ‘the biggest star among the research-intensive institutions’ by the Times Higher Education.

The College has a strong international reputation, with around 20 per cent of students coming from over 100 countries.

Queen Mary has an annual turnover of £220 million, research income worth £61 million, and generates employment and output worth £600 million to the UK economy each year.

Queen Mary, as a member of the 1994 Group of research-focused universities, has made a strategic commitment to the highest quality of research, but also to the best possible educational, cultural and social experience for its students. The College is unique amongst London's universities in being able to offer a completely integrated residential campus, with a 2,000-bed award-winning Student Village on its Mile End campus.

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