Verschillende studies over alzheimer en hartproblemen en foliumzuur.*

Uit verschillende studies blijkt dat een hoog homocysteïne gehalte in het bloed de kans op hartproblemen en het ontstaan van alzheimer sterk bevordert. Een goede oplossing van het terug dringen van dit gehalte is voldoende inname van Foliumzuur in combinatie met Vitamine B6 en B12. 

British researchers have uncovered compelling evidence of a possible cause of Alzheimer’s disease which affects approximately half a million individuals in Britain alone. Elevations in homocysteine, a molecule in our bloodstream, are increasingly being linked to dementia and loss of memory. In the British study, MR scans were performed on more than one thousand apparently healthy individuals between the ages of 60 to 70 years old. It will be reported that those individuals who had higher homocysteine levels six or eight years earlier had generally smaller brain volumes and performed less well in tests. Professor Smith from Oxford University has indicated that as many as 15% of all dementia cases may be due to homocysteine and that reducing high levels in the blood stream could theoretically prevent hundreds of thousands of cases. For the last several months I have been measuring homocysteine levels in my patients with dementia and have consistently seen elevations. American researchers for the last several years have likewise been noting this very strong correlation. Homocysteine clearly has a negative effect on both arteries and veins and appears to have a toxic effect on the brain itself. In a related article on homocysteine published in the March 12, 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was indicated that high plasma homocysteine levels appeared to be a clear risk factor for congestive heart failure, especially in women. In this study, approximately 25,000 men and women who enrolled in the Framingham heart study over twenty years ago were prospectively followed for six to ten years. It was found that those individuals with the highest levels of homocysteine in their blood had an approximately four-fold higher risk of developing congestive heart failure compared to the lowest group. Keep in mind that these individuals did not have a prior history of heart attack and that the elevation in plasma homocysteine concentration appeared to be independently related to development of congestive heart failure. Many other studies in the medical literature have indicated a clear correlation between the level of homocysteine in the blood and the risk of developing heart attacks, stroke and even phlebitis. In a recent article in the British Medical Journal, it was calculated that consumption of 800 mcg of folic acid daily would lower homocysteine levels sufficiently to reduce the risk of an individual suffering a heart attack by 16%, stroke by 24% and thrombophlebitis by 25%. I have stressed over and over again in these newsletters the importance of having your homocysteine measured and followed on a regular basis. If your doctor is unwilling to order a homocysteine level, you should seriously consider looking for another health care provider. This is no longer considered an experimental test and proper lowering of homocysteine level could literally save your life. The solution for lowering homocysteine is easy. Taking adequate amounts of folic acid, B6 and B12 is important. (2003)

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