Can Folic Acid Help Prevent Heart Attacks?

Heart attacks occur when the coronary arteries, the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle, become blocked with blood clots or atherosclerotic plaques. Apart from high cholesterol and high blood pressure, one of the risk factors that has been identified for heart attacks is raised levels of an amino acid, homocysteine in the blood.

Higher than normal homocysteine is thought to cause problems in the endothelial cells on the inside of blood vessels and the normal, easy flow of blood through them can be disrupted. High levels of the amino acid may damage the coronary arteries themselves, making it more likely that small clots of blood will form. If these clump together and become big enough to block one of the blood vessels, a heart attack can result.

A deficiency of folic acid is thought to lead to increased homocysteine levels and it therefore follows that making sure that the body has plenty of this vitamin, either in the diet, or as fortified foods or supplements, could break this cycle of blood vessel damage and so reduce the risk of heart attacks.

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