Folic acid for the elderly

Increasing the amount of folic acid an elderly person consumes each day could significantly reduce the risk of stroke, thrombosis and heart disease. However this is a guarded recommendation as the increase has to be adjusted carefully and by taking several health factors into account. Folic acid is found in high levels in foods such as bread, biscuits and breakfast cereals. A study was carried out over a period of three years at the University of Aberdeen Medical School and was funded by the Wellcome Trust, U.K. which is an independent biomedical research charity. 300 men and women between the ages of 65-74 yrs. were each given folic tablets of differing strengths for over six weeks. It was found that those who took the highest levels of folate had a drop in their levels of hymocysteine, an amino acid linked to vascular disease. They concluded that eating three times the recommended amount of folate each day which amounts to eating 10 to 15 portions of fruit and vegetables per day would reduce the level of this amino-acid which often precipitates heart disease. This study could have major implications because it is the elderly who bear the brunt of cardio-vascular problems. However researchers have also warned that consuming too much folic acid could affect the absorption of vitamin B12. If this falls too low it can, at worst, result in irreversible nerve damage. The health benefits of folic acid are fairly obvious as long as appropriate screening is done to detect deficiency or a predisposition to deficiency of vitamin B12. Experts in the UK intend to use advanced screening processes for the effect of folic acid on Vit.B12 before the results of this study can be taken any further.

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