VALENCIA, Venezuela, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Data do not support the suggestion that taking B-vitamin supplements prevents heart disease, researchers in Venezuela say.
Lead researcher Arturo Marti-Carvajal of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Network in Valencia, Venezuela, says it has been suggested that giving B-vitamin supplements could help regulate levels of homocysteine, thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and death. However, the Cochrane Systematic Review of eight trials involving a total of 24,210 people found no evidence to support the use of B vitamins as supplements for reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke or death associated with cardiovascular disease.
"It is important to point out that although we may have not found a positive effect, these kinds of studies are vitally important for determining the factors that influence the risk of developing and dying from this disease, which is the No. 1 cause of death in the world today," Marti-Carvajal says in a statement. "Prescription of these supplements cannot be justified, unless new evidence from large high-quality trials alters our conclusions. There are currently three ongoing trials that will help to consolidate or challenge these findings."
The findings are published in the Cochrane Library.
