Red wine and garlic aren't the only dietary supplements that keep our hearts healthy. Folic acid and vitamin B12 also appear to offer cost-effective treatments for heart disease and the reduction of associated deaths among the adult U.S. population, according to projections in a new University of California, San Francisco study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“The evidence for the beneficial effects of vitamins B12 and folic acid is much stronger than for garlic, vitamin E, and other dietary supplements promoted for heart disease prevention,” says Jeffrey A. Tice, MD, principal investigator of the study and UCSF assistant adjunct professor of medicine.

Researchers studied available data on the U.S population's homocysteine levels, a strong indicator of heart disease risk and associated death. Tice noted that previous studies demonstrated that people with modestly elevated homocysteine levels have higher rates of stroke, heart attack, and death from heart disease compared to those with low to normal homocysteine levels.

In addition, recent trials show that folic acid lowers homocysteine levels by 25 percent. The addition of vitamin B12 lowers levels an additional 7 percent. Moreover, among the U.S. population with known heart disease and elevated homocysteine levels, 310,000 fewer heart disease related deaths are projected to occur over a ten year period if these people add a folic acid (1 mg) and vitamin B12 (0.5) supplement to their daily dose of folic acid enriched grains, rather than consuming folic acid enriched grains alone.

“For most people, especially those with heart disease, taking a folic acid and vitamin B12 supplement is projected not only to be safe and save lives, but also to save money because it prevents heart disease and the costs associated with expensive medical treatments and procedures,” said Lee Goldman, MD, senior author of the study and professor and chair of the UCSF Department of Medicine. He added that a projected 24 billion dollars in the U.S. would be saved between 2001-2011 by treating men and women with heart disease with folic acid and vitamin B12.

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