B Vitamins:No Difference In Heart Disease & Cancer – Despite years of speculation and debate regarding B vitamins, a recent study has shown that B vitamins actually do not lower the risk of heart attack in individuals that have already survived one. The large study that was performed also showed that folic acid and vitamin B12 do not lead to an increased risk of cancer, which was a concern among many researchers.
Some were surprised by the results, while others seemed to be expecting the outcome that was reached. In early studies, blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine were high in people who had experienced some form of heart disease. This lead researches to theorize that using B vitamins, one can lower their homocysteine levels, and eventually help protect their heart from heart disease and strokes.
Studies immediately after the hypothesis did not give the results that they were looking for, which lead to debate in the community. The new study clearly shows that B vitamins cannot help protect against heart disease.
Over 12,000 heart attack survivors took either a placebo pill, or a vitamin B12 pill, at a dosage of one milligram per day, along with two milligrams of folic acid. The patients were then contacted seven years later to see if the usage of the vitamins had shown a decrease in heart disease among them.
One quarter of the patients who received the placebo pills would go on to have a heart attack over the seven year period, and around the same amount also experienced heart disease among the group that took B vitamins. However, the study did show very interesting results with those who took part in the study, and cancer. The results showed no increase in cancer, suggesting that B vitamins do not affect cancer.