Folic acid vs stroke

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Hi All, Folic acid supplementation may reduce stroke risks in those who have not had strokes. Few of us have had strokes, folks. The below paper is pdf-availed. Efficacy of folic acid supplementation in stroke prevention: a meta-analysisThe Lancet, Volume 369, Issue 9576, 2 June 2007-8 June 2007, Pages 1876-1882Xiaobin Wang, Xianhui Qin, Hakan Demirtas, Jianping Li, Guangyun Mao, Yong Huo, Ningling Sun, Lisheng Liu and Xiping Xu Summary Background The efficacy of treatments that lower homocysteine concentrations in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease remains controversial. Our aim was to do a meta-analysis of relevant randomised trials to assess the efficacy of folic acid supplementation in the prevention of stroke. Methods We collected data from eight randomised trials of folic acid that had stroke reported as one of the endpoints. Relative risk (RR) was used as a measure of the effect of folic acid supplementation on the risk of stroke with a random effect model. The analysis was further stratified by factors that could affect the treatment effects. Findings Folic acid supplementation significantly reduced the risk of stroke by 18% (RR 0·82, 95% CI 0·68–1·00; p=0·045). In the stratified analyses, a greater beneficial effect was seen in those trials with a treatment duration of more than 36 months (0·71, 0·57–0·87; p=0·001), a decrease in the concentration of homocysteine of more than 20% (0·77, 0·63–0·94; p=0·012), no fortification or partly fortified grain (0·75, 0·62–0·91; p=0·003), and no history of stroke (0·75, 0·62–0·90; p=0·002). In the corresponding comparison groups, the estimated RRs were

attenuated and insignificant. Interpretation Our findings indicate that folic acid supplementation can effectively reduce the risk of stroke in primary prevention. ... Discussion Our meta-analysis provides coherent evidence that folic acid supplementation can significantly reduce the risk of stroke in primary prevention. Although Bazzano and colleagues' meta-analysis21 reported that the overall effect of folic acid supplementation on stroke was not significant, the association became significant after removal of the VISP trial,15 which was done in individuals with a history of stroke. ... -- Al Pater, alpater@...

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