Today, everyone continues to explore the knowledge of preventing coronary heart disease. Studies show that there are at least 250 risk factors related to coronary heart disease. These risk factors can affect one or several pathological mechanisms in the body, thereby promoting the occurrence of coronary heart disease. When a person has several risk factors simultaneously, the risk of developing coronary heart disease will significantly increase. The independently recognized risk factors for coronary heart disease in the medical community are only hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, smoking, obesity, and a positive family history of coronary heart disease. In recent years, it has been found that elevated homocysteine in the human body is also a new important independent risk factor for coronary heart disease.
In clinical practice, it has been found that about half of patients with coronary heart disease do not have traditional independent risk factors such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, high blood sugar, or smoking, yet they still develop coronary heart disease. Research over the past decade has found that another risk factor is at play — increased plasma homocysteine levels. The higher the level of plasma homocysteine, the higher the incidence and mortality rate of coronary heart disease, especially among younger patients. In the male population, for every 5 micromoles per liter increase in total plasma homocysteine, the risk of coronary heart disease increases by 60%, and in females, it increases by 80%. Even mild to moderate elevations in homocysteine levels can increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 4 to 6 times.
The method to combat this risk factor is both simple and highly effective, unfortunately, it hasn't received enough attention from doctors and patients. This method involves appropriately supplementing folic acid and vitamin B6 (or/and vitamin B12). The United States began adding folic acid to flour and other foods in 1998 as an important public measure to prevent cardiovascular disease. Normal individuals can supplement 0.5 to 5.0 milligrams of folic acid daily, while heart attack patients can supplement 2.5 to 10 milligrams daily. After half a month, the level of homocysteine in the blood can decrease by 20% to 50%, with definite results. Therefore, to prevent cardiovascular disease, it is recommended to take 5 to 10 milligrams of folic acid + 10 milligrams of vitamin B6 daily in one dose. In case of banquets, the dosage can be appropriately increased. For those already suffering from coronary heart disease, they can take 10 to 30 milligrams of folic acid + 10 to 30 milligrams of vitamin B6 daily, then reduce to the normal preventive amount after half a month to one month.
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