Folic Acid may lower Stroke Risk in Hypertensive patients

According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the risk of stroke can be lowered with folic acid supplements in Hypertensive patients. Xiangyi Kong and colleagues conducted A study to evaluate whether folic acid treatment is particularly effective in stroke prevention in such a setting.

The researchers randomized 10,789 Chinese hypertensive adults (mean age 59.5 years; 38% male with no history of stroke and myocardial infarction) to daily treatments of 10mg enalapril and 0.8mg folic acid (5,408 patients) or 10mg enalapril alone (5,381 patients). The primary endpoint was the first stroke.

They found that during 4.2 years of follow-up, a total of 371 first strokes occurred. The lowest rate of first stroke (3.3%) in the enalapril-alone group was seen among patients with high platelet count (PLT; quartiles 2 to 4) and low total homocysteine (tHcy) levels (<15µmol/L), whereas the highest rate of first stroke (5.6%) in this group was in patients with low PLT (quartile 1) and high tHcy (≥15µmol/L) levels. . The high-risk group had a 73% reduction in risk of stroke following folic acid treatment. There was no significant effect of folic acid among the low-risk group.

The Authors concluded that the subgroup with low PLT and high tHcy had the highest risk of the first stroke, and this risk was reduced by 73% with folic acid treatment. If confirmed, PLT and tHcy could serve as biomarkers to identify high-risk individuals who would particularly benefit from folic acid treatment.

For further reference log on to :

DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.02.072