Vitamin B and Stroke Prevention?

Today I'm going to look into a new review that suggests that taking Vitamin B supplements may reduce risk of stroke. In the review, 14 studies were analyzed including nearly 55,000 participants who were followed for at least 6 months. Participants were separated into 2 groups, one group was given a placebo while the other was given a Vitamin B supplement. Over this time, nearly 2500 strokes occurred and a 7% reduced risk of stroke was seen in participants taking B vitamin supplements. However, no changes were seen in the severity of strokes or in risk of death from stroke in the supplemented group.
In this study it was suggested the folic acid (Vitamin B9) supplements reduced beneficial affects of Vitamin B supplementation while Vitamin B12 supplements had no affect on stroke risk.
On the other hand, a 2007 meta-analysis by Wang et al. suggests that folic acid supplementation over 36 months may help decrease stroke risk.

What to make of this information? A 6 month trial doesn't tell us how long people should take these supplements for, nor does it tell us what the results of long-term supplementation are. In addition, some studies that suggested folic acid reduces stroke risk looked at changes in an amino acid, homocysteine, to predict stroke risk. High homocysteine can indicate risk of heart disease, but reducing its levels is not currently believed to be linked to reducing risk of heart disease or stroke. Therefore, the reliability of studies only looking at changes homocysteine is unclear.

Sometimes I find it easier to go back to basics.
If you can control any of the better known risks of stroke such as smoking, high trans fat/ saturated fat diet, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, obesity and/ or high cholesterol, that may be a good starting point.

And  lets say you do your own research and find that you'd like to have more Vitamin B in your diet, take a look at the list below. Rich food sources of B Vitamins include (but are not limited to):

• Turkey, poultry, tuna, liver, beans, lentils, eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts
• Whole grains, enriched cereals
• Milk, cheese, yogurt

If choosing to take a Vitamin B supplement, be sure to check with your physician, pharmacist, and/or dietitian to find the safest dose for you!

Information Sources:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/106/3/388.full
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067360760854X
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_140788.html
http://www.healthcastle.com/nutrition101_vitaminB6.shtml
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/Homocysteine-Folic-Acid-and-Cardiovascular-Disease_UCM_305997_Article.jsp