The Evidence
1. At least one in two people die prematurely from potentially preventable diseases and more than one in two people have elevated homocysteine levels.
2. According to WHO estimates, each year 16.7 million people die globally from cardiovascular disease. Those with dangerously high homocysteine levels increase their risk of a heart attack by 50%.
3. 32 million heart attacks and strokes occur globally each year with 12.5 million resulting in death. 40% of deaths due to stroke were associated with high homocysteine levels.
4. Worldwide, nearly 18 million people suffer from a form of dementia, of which Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 55%. A homocysteine level above 14µmol/L plasma amplifies your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 150%.
Reduce your risk:
A 3µmol/L drop in homocysteine lessens the likelihood of heart attacks by 16%, strokes by 24% and deep vein thrombosis by 25%.
A 5µmol/L decrease in homocysteine reduces the risk of death from all causes by 49%, death from cardiovascular disease by 50% and death from cancer by 26%.
References:
1) Alzheimer’s Society UK (2005), Policy Positions – Demography
2) American Heart Association (2004), International Cardiovascular Disease Statistics fact sheet
3) American Heart Association (2004), Heart and stroke facts
4) American Heart Association (2005), Homocysteine, Folic Acid and Cardiovascular Disease
5) Borjel AK, Nilsson TK, Hurtig-Wenloff A, Yngve A, Sjostrom M “Plasma Homocysteine levels, MTHFR polymorphisms 677C>T, 1298A>C, 1793G>A, and school achievement in a population sample of Swedish Children. Haematologica Reports Vol 1 (3) June 2005; Communication C004, page 4. Homocysteine Metabolism 5th International Conference June26-30, 2005.)
6) Bostom AG et al. (1999) Nonfasting plasma total homocysteine levels and stroke incidence in elderly persons: the Framingham Study. Ann Intern Med, 131(5).
7) Delle Chiaie R, Pancheri P. and Scapicchio P. (2002) Efficacy and tolerability of oral and intramuscular S-adenosyl-L-methionine 1,4-butanedisulfonate (SAMe) in the treatment of major depression: comparison with imipramine in 2 multicenter studies. Am J Clin Nutr., 76(5).
8) Elias, M. (2005) 4th Conference on Hyperhomocysteinemia, Saarbruecken, Germany. Presentation – Age, Cognition and Homocysteine: News from Framingham.
9) Gerritsen T et al. (1962) The identification of homocysteine in the urine. Biochem Biophys Res Comm, 175.
10) Hoogeveen EK et al. (2000) Hyperhomocysteinemia increases risk of death, especially in type 2 diabetes: 5-year follow-up of the Hoorn Study. Circulation, 101(13).
11) Lieber CS. (2002) S-adenosyl-L-methionine: its role in the treatment of liver disorders. Am J Clin Nutr., 76(5).
12) Mroczek, WJ, Lee, WR, and Davidov, ME. (1997) Effect of magnesium sulphate on cardiovascular hemodynamics. Angiology, 28(10).
13) Nelen WL et al. (2000) Homocysteine and folate levels as risk factors for recurrent early pregnancy loss. Obstet. Gynecol., 95(4).
14) Soeken KL et al. (2002) Safety and efficacy of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) for osteoarthritis. Journal of Family Practice, 51.
15) Vollset SE et al. (2000) Plasma total homocysteine, pregnancy complications, and adverse pregnancy outcomes; the Hordaland Homocysteine study. Am J Clin Nutr, 71(4).
16) Vollset SE, Refsum H, Tverdal A, Nygard O, Nordrehaug JE, Tell GS, Ueland PM. Plasma total homocysteine and cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality: the Hordaland Homocysteine Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Jul;74(1):130-6.
17) Wald DS, Law M, Morris JK. (2002) Homocysteine and cardiovascular disease; evidence on causality from a meta-analysis. BMJ, 325(7374).
18) Yang, Q. (2005) 4th Conference on Hyperhomocysteinemia, Saarbruecken, Germany. Presentation – Folic Acid Fortification in North America: Mortality by Stroke and Cardiac Arrest sinks
19) Yoshihiro Sato et al. (2005) Effect of Folate and Mecobalamin on Hip Fractures in Patients With Stroke. JAMA, 293.