Analysis Trumpets Folic Acid’s Value in Fighting Heart Disease : SCIENCE FILE / An exploration of issues and trends affecting science, medicine and the environment

The vitamin folic acid appears to be so valuable in preventing heart disease that clinical trials are urgently needed to confirm its life-saving potential, say researchers who analyzed 38 previous studies. Folic acid, also called folate, reduces levels of an amino acid in the blood called homocysteine, which is believed to damage the lining of blood-vessel walls at high concentrations.

As many as 10% of deaths from coronary artery disease in U.S. men over 45--about 35,000 deaths per year--are attributable to high homocysteine levels and are potentially preventable by consuming extra amounts of folate, a team from the University of Washington estimated in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. Increased levels of folate in one’s diet have also been shown to reduce the incidence of spina bifida.