"Folate may protect against hemorrhagic stroke", Reuters UK, July 21,
2005,
Link:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-07-22T010605Z_01_B30957_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-FOLATE-STROKE-DC.XML
In addition to its effects on homocysteine, an amino acid linked to
heart disease, folate may protect against a certain type of stroke.
Specifically, investigators found that folate, a B vitamin found in
green leafy vegetables, fruits and dried beans, appears to lower the
risk of hemorrhagic strokes, strokes caused by bleeding in the brain.
"Folate metabolism has been implicated in stroke," Dr. Bethany Van
Guelpen, of Umea University, Sweden, and colleague write in the medical
journal Stroke. "However, the possibility of a role for folate and
vitamin B12, independent of their effect on homocysteine status,
remains to be explored."
The researchers examined blood and dietary levels of folate and vitamin
B12 in 62 patients who had a hemorrhagic stroke and 334 who had an
ischemic stroke, which are the result of blocked blood flow in the
brain.
Blood levels of folate were inversely associated with the risk of
hemorrhagic stroke. The association remained after accounting for the
effects of conventional risk factors.
No association was observed between blood levels of vitamin B12 and
either type of stroke.
The investigators report that dietary folate was not associated with
the risk of ischemic stroke, but it was inversely associated with the
risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Dietary vitamin B12 was not significantly
related to either stroke type.
Van Guelpen's team notes that the lack of any association with ischemic
stroke was unexpected.
They point out that the food in Sweden is not fortified with folate and
intake of fruit and vegetables is relatively low, so folate levels
might not have been high enough to show a protective effect against
ischemic stroke.
SOURCE: Stroke, July 2005.