<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Taking B vitamins is unlikely to prevent heart attack and stroke in people who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease, a new research review suggests.</p><p>The findings, based on eight clinical trials of more than 24,000 people, give added weight to current recommendations against using B vitamins as a way to prevent heart trouble.</p><p>The idea that B vitamins like folic acid, B-6 and B-12 might help prevent heart complications stems from the fact that they lower blood levels of an amino acid called homocysteine. Homocysteine levels are often elevated in people with atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque in the arteries that can lead to heart attack and stroke.</p><p>However, researchers have not been sure whether high homocysteine levels actually contribute to atherosclerosis progression, or are merely a marker of heart risks. Suggesting the latter may be true, no clinical trial has proven that B-vitamin supplements prevent heart attack and stroke.</p><p>To help strengthen the evidence, the new review pulled together data from eight clinical trials testing the effects of folic acid, vitamin B-6, B-12 or some combination of the these supplements.</p><p>The trials involved 24,210 people with either established heart and blood vessel disease -- atherosclerosis or a history of stroke, heart attack or other heart complications -- or major risk factors for it, like diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.</p><p>Researchers found that adding the supplements to standard medical care did nothing to lower study participants' risks of heart attack, stroke or death for up to seven years of follow-up.</p><p>The findings appear in the Cochrane Library, which is published by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research.</p><p>The review provides "strong evidence" that these B vitamins do not prevent heart problems and strokes, lead researcher Dr. Arturo J. Marti-Carvajal, of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Network in Valencia, Venezuela, told Reuters Health in an email.</p><p>His advice to people trying to protect their heart health is to forgo B vitamins in favor of proven tactics: stop smoking, exercise regularly, get regular tests of blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, and eat a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fast food and other less-than-healthy fare.</p><p>SOURCE: Cochrane Library, online October 7, 2009.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=61026174&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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