Vitamin B supplements offer no protection from heart disease

According to recent research vitamin B or folic acid supplements do not prevent death in patients with heart disease.

In a study by Norwegian scientists it has been revealed that supplements of vitamin B did not reduce the rates of heart attacks or strokes in patients with coronary artery disease.

Earlier research appeared to suggest that folic acid, either alone or combined with vitamins B12 and B6, reduced levels in the blood of homocysteine, an amino acid linked to a higher risk of heart attack.

This latest research appears to dispute these claims and is yet the another example of science questioning the benefits of supplementary vitamins.

The research involved more than 3,000 patients in two Norwegian hospitals between 1999 and 2006 who were given folic acid plus vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, or folic acid plus B12, B6 alone, or a placebo.

The researchers found that while homocysteine levels did fall by 30 per cent after a year of treatment with folic acid and B12, there was no corresponding fall in heart attacks or strokes and in the group given folic acid, there was a decline in strokes, but an increase in cancer, though neither was considered significant.

The research team led by Dr. Marta Ebbing, from Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, say their findings do not support the use of B vitamins as secondary prevention in patients with coronary artery disease.

The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.