When the blood flow is cut off, the damage to the heart muscle could be reduced with the help of high doses of folate, as suggested by an animal study carried out by researchers from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore. The findings were published in the April 2008’s addition of “Circulation”.
What is folate? It is a water-soluble B vitamin obtainable from food. The synthetic form of folate that is found in supplements and added to fortified foods is known as folic acid. Folate helps produce and maintain new cells. It can be found in natural foods like leafy vegetables (such as spinach and turnip greens), fruits (for example, citrus fruits and juices), and dried beans and peas.
In the animal study, rats were treated with folate or placebo. After 1 week, their left coronary arteries were blocked for 30 minutes. As we know, blood normally carries oxygen to the heart muscle. Any sudden and severe blockage could just trigger a heart attack or an abnormal heart rhythm, which is considered as fatal conditions.
The researchers performed a 90-minute of reperfusion to some rates and do nothing to the others. Reperfusion is the restoration of the coronary blood flow to the heart muscle. Preserving or restoring heart function is a necessary procedure, but it can well cause a disturbance in the function of the cells in the heart muscle known as reperfusion injury.
Rats that were treated with folate had significantly less functional damage of the heart than those that were treated with placebo. When the researchers looked at reperfusion, smaller areas of dead heart muscle were found among rats pretreated with folate.
Further analysis also indicated that folate might have achieved these beneficial effects, in part, by maintaining levels of the high-energy phosphates ATP and ADP in the heart.
Despite of the positive findings, the researchers felt that it is still premature for people to start taking high doses of folate. However, if future studies on human beings can prove equally effective, then high-dose folate could be given to those people with high-risk factors (diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.) for preventing possible heart attack or to people who have suffered heart attack.
What is folate? It is a water-soluble B vitamin obtainable from food. The synthetic form of folate that is found in supplements and added to fortified foods is known as folic acid. Folate helps produce and maintain new cells. It can be found in natural foods like leafy vegetables (such as spinach and turnip greens), fruits (for example, citrus fruits and juices), and dried beans and peas.
In the animal study, rats were treated with folate or placebo. After 1 week, their left coronary arteries were blocked for 30 minutes. As we know, blood normally carries oxygen to the heart muscle. Any sudden and severe blockage could just trigger a heart attack or an abnormal heart rhythm, which is considered as fatal conditions.
The researchers performed a 90-minute of reperfusion to some rates and do nothing to the others. Reperfusion is the restoration of the coronary blood flow to the heart muscle. Preserving or restoring heart function is a necessary procedure, but it can well cause a disturbance in the function of the cells in the heart muscle known as reperfusion injury.
Rats that were treated with folate had significantly less functional damage of the heart than those that were treated with placebo. When the researchers looked at reperfusion, smaller areas of dead heart muscle were found among rats pretreated with folate.
Further analysis also indicated that folate might have achieved these beneficial effects, in part, by maintaining levels of the high-energy phosphates ATP and ADP in the heart.
Despite of the positive findings, the researchers felt that it is still premature for people to start taking high doses of folate. However, if future studies on human beings can prove equally effective, then high-dose folate could be given to those people with high-risk factors (diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.) for preventing possible heart attack or to people who have suffered heart attack.
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