AD Hock and Vit D- now folic acid/Color

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Color:

The recommended daily amount of folic acid is 400 micrograms (mcg)

which is alittle less than half of one milligram (mg).

But these daily recommended amounts haven't been revised for over 20

years... see the reference below which supports your use of 5 mg per

day. Also note that levels of homocysteine were decreased when this

amount was used for the study period.

Barb

REFERENCE

JAMA. 2005 Mar 2;293(9):1082-8.

Comment in:

JAMA. 2005 Mar 2;293(9):1121-2.

Effect of folate and mecobalamin on hip fractures in patients with

stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

Sato Y, Honda Y, Iwamoto J, Kanoko T, Satoh K.

Department of Neurology, Mitate Hospital, Tagawa, Japan. y-

sato@...

CONTEXT: Stroke increases the risk of subsequent hip fracture by 2 to

4 times. Hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for both ischemic

stroke and osteoporotic fractures in elderly men and women. Treatment

with folate and mecobalamin (vitamin B12) may improve

hyperhomocysteinemia. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether treatment

with folate and vitamin B12 reduces the incidence of hip fractures in

patients with hemiplegia following stroke. DESIGN, SETTING, AND

PATIENTS: A double-blind, randomized controlled study of 628

consecutive patients aged 65 years or older with residual hemiplegia

at least 1 year following first ischemic stroke, who were recruited

from a single Japanese hospital from April 1, 2000, to May 31, 2001.

Patients were assigned to daily oral treatment with 5 mg of folate

and 1500 microg of mecobalamin, or double placebo; 559 completed the

2-year follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incidence of hip fractures in

the 2 patient groups during the 2-year follow-up. RESULTS: At

baseline, patients in both groups had high levels of plasma

homocysteine and low levels of serum cobalamin and serum folate.

After 2 years, plasma homocysteine levels decreased by 38% in the

treatment group and increased by 31% in the placebo group (P<.001).

The number of hip fractures per 1000 patient-years was 10 and 43 for

the treatment and placebo groups, respectively (P<.001). The adjusted

relative risk, absolute risk reduction, and the number needed to

treat for hip fractures in the treatment vs placebo groups were 0.20

(95% confidence interval [CI], 0.08-0.50), 7.1% (95% CI, 3.6%-10.8%),

and 14 (95% CI, 9-28), respectively. No significant adverse effects

were reported. CONCLUSION: In this Japanese population with a high

baseline fracture risk, combined treatment with folate and vitamin

B12 is safe and effective in reducing the risk of a hip fracture in

elderly patients following stroke.

Publication Types:

Clinical Trial

Randomized Controlled Trial

PMID: 15741530 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]