Folate May Prevent High Blood Pressure In WomenConsuming high levels of folate – from food and supplements - could cut risk of hypertension almost in half
Boston, MA – Millions of women take folic acid supplements during their child-bearing years to prevent the risk of neural tube defects. Now, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have found new evidence that this important B vitamin may also help fight hypertension (high blood pressure) – a disease that effects one in three adults.
In a study of more than 150,000 women, the BWH research team found that women who consumed high levels of folate, from both food and supplements, significantly reduced their risk of developing high blood pressure. These findings are the latest from the landmark BWH-based Nurses’ Health Study I and Nurses’ Health Study II and appear in the January 19, 2005 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
“This is the first major study to show an association between folate intake and prevention of high blood pressure,” said John Forman, MD, a kidney specialist and researcher at BWH. “While the findings are encouraging, we are not yet ready to recommend that women start increasing their folate intake until more research is conducted.”
Over a period of up to eight years, researchers observed the dietary habits and health of two groups of women: 27-44 year olds and a group of 43-70 year olds who did not have high blood pressure at the beginning of the study. Overall, women who consumed the highest levels of folate (more than 1000 micrograms/day) had a lower risk of developing high blood pressure than women who consumed the lowest amounts of folate (less than 200 micrograms/day).
The researchers report the following major findings linking high folate intake to a lower risk of hypertension:
· The reduction in risk was more pronounced in younger women. Women in the younger age group (27-44 years) with the highest folate intake had a 46 percent lower risk of high blood pressure compared to women who consumed the lowest amount of folate. Older women had an 18 percent lower risk.
· Among a subset of women whose intake of folate from foods was low (less than 200 micrograms/day), those who consumed enough supplemental folic acid to achieve a total daily folate intake greater than 800 micrograms/day had a 45 percent (younger age group) and 39 percent (older age group) reduction in the risk of developing hypertension, indicating a potential role for supplements.
· Among women who did not use any folic acid supplements, folate from foods alone did not lower the risk of high blood pressure.
· The risk reduction was also more dramatic in women who had a normal body mass index.
“We expected to see fewer cases of hypertension among women in the high folate group, but it was intriguing to observe how much more dramatic the risk reduction was in younger and leaner women,” said Forman, who is also an instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “While we are not sure why this is the case, it suggests that we need to examine more closely how high blood pressure develops in younger and leaner women.”
Folate occurs naturally in foods such as oranges and leafy green vegetables. Breakfast cereals and wheat flour have been fortified with folic acid (the synthetic form of folate) since 1998, following a mandate by the Food and Drug Administration to increase folate in the diet as a means of preventing birth defects.
The majority of women in the study consumed approximately 250-300 micrograms of folate per day. Pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant are advised to consume at least 400 micrograms per day (the amount contained in a single multivitamin). Though still not fully understood, scientists hypothesize that folate’s role in the construction of DNA may explain why it can reduce neural tube defects by up to 70 percent. According to Forman, it may help reduce blood pressure because of its ability to relax blood vessels and ease blood flow, although the study was not designed to look at this mechanism.
“The prospect that folate has the potential to protect against high blood pressure is exciting given that the vitamin is both readily available and safe,” said Forman. “The next step will be a randomized controlled trial comparing women given either folic acid supplements or placebo.”
Please contact BWH Media Relations for more information at (617) 534-1600 or BWHMediaRelations@partners.org.
BWH is a 747-bed nonprofit teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a founding member of Partners HealthCare System, an integrated health care delivery network. BWH is committed to excellence in patient care with expertise in virtually every specialty of medicine and surgery. The BWH medical preeminence dates back to 1832 and today that rich history in clinical care is coupled with its national leadership in quality improvement and patient safety initiatives, dedication to educating and training health care professionals, and strength in biomedical research. With $370M in funding and more than 500 research scientists, BWH is an acclaimed leader in clinical, basic and epidemiological investigation - including the landmark Nurses Health Study, Physicians Health Studies, and the Women's Health Initiative. For more information visit www.brighamandwomens.org
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