The powerful Folic Acid: Against Cancers and Stroke | Treatment of atrophic gastritis
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The powerful Folic Acid: Against Cancers and Stroke | Treatment of atrophic gastritis…
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The powerful Folic Acid: Against Cancers and Stroke | Treatment of atrophic gastritis…
Folic acid (vitamin B9) is a well-known, well-known, harmless medicine for humans and animals.
It has made outstanding contributions in preventing neonatal teratogenicity and is the first important medicine for pregnancy.
Its main function is to prevent congenital deformities in newborns , neural tube defects, prevent anemia and pre-eclampsia in pregnant women, and promote placental development.
Not only that, it also has a series of incredible effects.
What’s even more amazing is that, apart from occasional mild allergic reactions, it has almost no side effects. Even if it is taken 20 times more than the minimum dose, it will not be poisoned, and the excess will be excreted in the urine.
Let’s take a look, besides preparing for pregnancy, what other magical effects does it have? Who is it suitable for?
1. The risk of stroke is reduced by 73%, and kidney failure is delayed
In May 2018, the “Journal of the American College of Cardiology” (JACC) broke another big news: when the platelets of hypertensive patients are lower than 218×10^9/L, the risk of folic acid supplementation can be reduced by 73%!
As early as 2015 , the CSPPT test results of Professor Huo Yong from the First Hospital of Peking University in China stated that this randomized controlled trial involving more than 20,000 hypertensive patients showed that: on the basis of taking the antihypertensive drug enalapril, every Daily supplementation of folic acid can reduce the incidence of stroke in hypertensive patients from 3.4% to 2.7%, and the relative risk has dropped by 21%. The findings were published in JAMA on March 15, 2015.
Just in May 2018, the team of Peking University First Hospital, which led the trial, published follow-up analysis results. Hypertensive patients with low platelets are the group who benefit most from folic acid supplementation. If the patient’s platelets are lower than 218×10^9 /L, the risk reduction of folic acid supplementation can reach 73%.
This study included 10,789 Chinese hypertensive adult patients (mean age 59.5 years old, 38% male, no history of stroke or myocardial infarction). After 4.2 years of follow-up, a total of 371 cases of first stroke occurred .
In the treatment group of Pril alone, patients with the lowest incidence of first stroke (3.3%) were patients with high PLT levels and low tHcy levels (<15 μmol/l), and patients with the highest incidence (5.6%) were patients with low PLT levels and high tHcy levels .
In the combined folic acid group, high-risk stroke patients had a 73% reduction in stroke risk (HR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.11 – 0.64; p = 0.003), while low-risk patients had no significant difference in risk.
In addition, a paper published by Professor Huo Yong’s team in the Journal of the American Medical Association-Internal Medicine in 2016 showed that folic acid supplementation also effectively delayed the progression of chronic renal failure in patients in the CSPPT trial.
Although folic acid has many benefits, how to select patients who need folic acid supplementation most?
In fact, it is very simple, that is – the value of platelets. Studies have shown that when the platelets are below 218×10^9/L, the benefits of taking folic acid are maximized .
The reasons are as follows:
Homocysteine (Hcy) level is currently the most accurate independent health indicator, and high Hcy is an important independent risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, especially stroke. High Hcy can damage arteries, heart, and brain, leading to arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, premature aging, cancer, and is associated with more than 50 diseases.
Hcy can induce the damage of vascular endothelial cells, leading to stroke and coronary heart disease, and the damage of endothelial cells can also affect the aggregation of platelets, resulting in a decrease in the number of platelets. Therefore, a simple blood routine examination can achieve the goal of evaluating the benefits of patients .
Statistics show that China is a country with a high incidence of stroke, with 2 million new cases each year. Stroke kills 1.5 million people every year, and is the second cause of death among urban and rural residents after tumors. Among the surviving patients, about three-quarters lost their ability to work to varying degrees, and 40% were severely disabled. The whole country is used for the treatment cost of this disease more than 10,000,000,000 yuan every year, and the economic burden of country and family is heavy.
Compared with statin drugs for the treatment of stroke, the use of folic acid is more cost-effective and more in line with China’s national conditions. For example, “antihypertensive drugs plus folic acid” can be used for the prevention of elderly normal people, especially in northern China, where the incidence of stroke is high, but the level of folic acid is low, and the expectation of folic acid supplementation is better than that in western countries.
2. Improve sperm quality
The latest research proves that when folic acid is insufficient in men, the concentration of men’s semen will be reduced, and the motility of sperm will be weakened, making it difficult to conceive. It may also increase the chance of chromosomal defects, increasing the risk of serious diseases in children as they grow up.
Researchers from California State University, Berkeley analyzed the sperm quality of 89 healthy men and recorded their daily intake of zinc, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E and β-carotene. The results showed that men who consumed the highest levels of folic acid had the lowest rates of abnormal sperm. Daily intake of 722-1500 micrograms will reduce the risk factor by 20%-30%!
Men who are going to be fathers can properly supplement folic acid, such as eating more green leafy vegetables, fruits, and beans.
3. Delay Alzheimer’s disease
US FDA approves that folic acid can be added to infant milk powder. As a healthy food additive, folic acid can promote the growth of brain cells in infants and young children, and has the effect of improving intelligence.
For the elderly, folic acid can also nourish the nerves. Sufficient folic acid can not only reduce the damage of harmful substances in the human body to the brain blood vessels, but also help reduce cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease caused by brain nerve damage.
4. Prevention of anemia in the elderly
When a person reaches old age, the hematopoietic system will degenerate to a certain extent, and senile anemia is prone to occur. In addition to iron deficiency causing anemia, lack of folic acid can also cause anemia in the elderly.
Folic acid is an essential substance for the growth and reproduction of human cells, and is one of the raw materials for the body’s hematopoiesis. The lack of folic acid will lead to abnormal red blood cells, and the maturation of red blood cells will also be hindered. Clinically, it is megaloblastic anemia, and patients will have adverse symptoms such as pale complexion, listlessness, forgetfulness, insomnia, and gastrointestinal dysfunction.
Elderly people with folic acid deficiency anemia can take folic acid tablets to supplement folic acid under the guidance of a doctor. Although it is a health care product, it should not be taken in excess.
5. Reduce the risk of cancer
Folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin that escorts the synthesis of cellular DNA and inactivates cancer genes, thereby preventing the occurrence of cancer.
What needs to be reminded is that although folic acid is very important to human health, it is reported that excessive intake will increase the risk of cancer instead of decreasing.
Usually we get about 300 micrograms of folic acid from food every day. To prevent it, it is best for middle-aged and elderly people to supplement with an additional 200 micrograms.
6. Inhibit obesity genes and improve childhood obesity
A mouse experiment in the United States found that if pregnant obese mice ingested an appropriate amount of folic acid and vitamin B12, the risk of passing the obesity gene to the next generation was reduced by 50%, and the obesity gene disappeared in the third generation.
The researchers estimate that folic acid, insulin, and vitamin B12 have chemicals that suppress the obesity gene, making it inactive during pregnancy. If pregnant women supplement enough folic acid, the next generation can also develop healthy eating and living habits. It is believed that the problem of childhood obesity can be improved within a short time.
7. Treat atrophic gastritis and improve the eradication rate of Hp
Studies have shown that taking folic acid is also effective in improving chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) and reversing intestinal metaplasia.
The researchers selected 67 patients with H.pylori-negative chronic atrophic gastritis and divided them into the control group and the treatment group. The control group was given conventional therapy (pepsin); At 24 weeks, folic acid, vitamin B12, clinical symptoms, gastroscopy and pathological biopsy scores were compared.
It is concluded that folic acid and vitamin B12 can improve the clinical symptoms and histological changes of patients with H.pylori-negative chronic atrophic gastritis, which is worthy of clinical application.
Another group of studies also looked at the long-term effects of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication therapy combined with folic acid in patients with chronic atrophic gastritis. A total of 123 patients with CAG undergoing H.pylori eradication therapy were selected as the research subjects. According to the treatment plan, they were divided into a combination group (n=71) and a simple eradication group (n=52).
Patients in the simple eradication group were given standard triple H.pylori eradication therapy. After the successful eradication of H.pylori, patients in the combination group were given oral folic acid tablets for 3 months. Gastroscopy follow-up was performed 2 years after treatment, and the operable intestinal metaplasia assessment (OLGIM) and atrophy assessment associated with gastric cancer risk were compared before and after treatment in the two groups (OLGA) staging, according to the results of 13C urea breath test 2 years after treatment, patients in the combined group were divided into H.pylori successful eradication group (n=49) and H.pylori reinfection group (n=22), and the three groups were compared CAG lesion scores before and after treatment.
Conclusion: (The powerful Folic Acid: Against Cancers and Stroke | Treatment of atrophic gastritis…)
H.pylori eradication therapy combined with folic acid can significantly improve the degree of gastric mucosal atrophy and intestinal metaplasia in patients with CAG, and promote their recovery. The long-term application effect is satisfactory, and the effect of successful H.pylori eradication is better .
The powerful Folic Acid: Against Cancers and Stroke | Treatment of atrophic gastritis…
(source:internet, reference only)
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