A new study published recently in the journal Neurology has shown that vitamin B supplements could help cut the risk of stroke. The study found that vitamin B could lower the risk of stroke by up to 7%, though several factors could affect outcomes for individual patients.
“Based on our results, the ability of vitamin B to reduce stroke risk may be influenced by a number of other factors such as the body’s absorption rate, the amount of folic acid or vitamin B12 concentration in the blood, and whether a person has kidney disease or high blood pressure,” said Xu Yuming a co-author of the study and researcher at Zhengzhou University.
Yuming and his colleagues looked at 14 different clinical trials covering nearly 55,000 patients. All of the studies showed some benefit to stroke risk by taking vitamin b.
Though the study found a reduction in stroke risk, it did not find a similar correlation for reducing the severity of strokes that do occur or the risk of deth from them. The results also contradict some previous studies, many of which have found conflicting data on whether vitamin B is good for overall heart health.
“Previous studies have conflicting findings regarding the use of vitamin B supplements and stroke or heart attack,” said Yuming. “Some studies have even suggested that the supplements may increase the risk of these events.”