|
Supplements cut post-stroke hip fracture risk
Last Updated: 2005-03-01 16:00:27 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Dietary supplements of folate and vitamin B12
can reduce the risk of hip fracture in elderly patients following a stroke,
according to a new Japanese study.
The risk of hip fracture is significantly higher in stroke patients than in
other individuals of the same age, and is thought to be associated with
increased blood levels of a substance called homocysteine, Dr. Yoshihiro
Sato and others note in this week's Journal of the American Medical
Association.
Because folate and mecobalamin (vitamin B12) reduce homocysteine levels, the
team thought that supplements of these nutrients could reduce fracture risk.
Sato, at Mitate Hospital in Tagawa, and colleagues studied 628 patients aged
65 years or more who had residual paralysis on one side of the body a year
or more after having a stroke. The participants were randomly assigned to
take folate and mecobalamin daily, or inactive placebos.
During 2 years of follow-up, the number of falls in each group was virtually
the same, but there were only six hip fractures in the supplement group
compared with 27 in the placebo group.
Even though homocysteine levels dropped in the active treatment group and
rose in the placebo group, bone mineral density did not differ significantly
between groups -- so that didn't explain the fewer number of fractures.
As two editorialists point out, although the results support a link between
homocysteine levels and fracture risk, "final proof of causality will have
to come from elucidation of the biological mechanism underlying this
relationship."
Also, Sato's group cautions that while they found folate and mecobalamin
treatment to be associated with striking decreases in fracture risk,
"generalization to broader non-Japanese populations should be performed with
caution."
SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, March 2, 2005.
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
|
