Reuters:
Folate Supplements Good for Women's Blood Pressure

 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Higher intake of folic acid is associated
with a decreased risk of developing high blood pressure, particularly
among younger women, according to Harvard researchers.
Small studies have suggested that high-dose folic acid supplementation
may lower blood pressure, Dr. John P. Forman and colleagues note in
this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, but there
have been no large, forward-looking studies examining this issue.

The team analyzed information on nearly 94,000 women ages 27 to 44
years participating in the Nurses' Health Study II, none of whom had
high blood pressure when the study began. Their folate intake was
estimated based on food questionnaires and information regarding
folate-containing supplements.

During 8 years of follow-up, 7373 of the women developed hypertension.

After adjusting for factors such as physical activity, weight and
family history, women who consumed at least 1000 micrograms per day of
total folate had a 46 percent lower risk of becoming hypertensive
compared with those with an intake less than 200 micrograms per day.

Forman's team also examined data on more than 62,000 older women (43
to 70 years of age) in the Nurses' Health Study I, among whom 12,347
developed high blood pressure.

In this group, the risk of hypertension was reduced 18 percent for the
highest versus lowest folate intake.

The benefit came primarily from folate supplementation rather than
dietary folate, the researchers found.

This may be because relatively few subjects consumed very high
quantities of dietary folate, or perhaps folate from supplements is
more readily used by the body.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, January 18, 2005.

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