High homocysteine causes cardiovascular disease

Wald and colleagues (p 1202) provide evidence of a causal association between homocysteine and cardiovascular disease. Their meta-analyses show that a mutation in the MTHFR gene, which reduces folate metabolism, significantly increases cardiovascular risk. The authors report that consuming 0.8 mg of folic acid could decrease serum homocysteine, reducing the risk of ischaemic heart disease by 16%, deep vein thrombosis by 25%, and stroke by 24%.


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Relevant Article

Homocysteine and cardiovascular disease: evidence on causality from a meta-analysis
David S Wald, Malcolm Law, and Joan K Morris
BMJ 2002 325: 1202-1206. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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