Pop Mechanics

Vitamins May Help Heart Patients

BY STEFANO COLEDAN

Dr. Guido Schnyder discusses his research in the UCSD cardiac catheterization lab.

A cocktail of folic acid and vitamins B-6 and B-12 could prevent the repeat blockage of coronary arteries in patients who have had heart vessels unclogged before, a study shows. Tests conducted by American and Swiss cardiologists show that 48 percent of angioplasty patients who took the vitamin cocktail did not develop restenosis, a medical term for new blockages.

Apparently, the mix helps to lower the level of homocysteine, believed to be linked to higher risks of heart disease. "This has proven to be a very effective and inexpensive treatment," says Dr. Guido Schnyder, a cardiologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Schnyder led the joint study, which included specialists from the University of San Diego's School of Medicine.

The researchers found that vitamin therapy had no side effects on the trial patients, Schnyder says, suggesting that doctors should put patients on the treatment as a follow-up therapy after successful angioplasty. The daily dose includes 1 milligram of folic acid, 400 micrograms of vitamin B-12, and 10 milligrams of vitamin B-6.

Angioplasty is the procedure used by doctors to clear arteries that are on the verge of causing a heart attack or other life-threatening emergency. A small balloon is inserted in the clogged vessel, then inflated to press the obstructing plaque against the arterial wall. This reestablishes good blood flow. Typically though, blockages tend to reoccur in about 40 percent of patients.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001