2024-03-14 06:02:49
Why do some people have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke even without classic risk factors such as high cholesterol? Researchers investigated this question analyzed blood samples of over 1,000 patients who had heart disease.
The search for risk factors
The scientists from the USA and Germany looked for small molecules whose levels could predict the likelihood of heart and vascular diseases independently of traditional risk factors. Two molecules were particularly striking. Further analyzes revealed that these were the substances 2PY and 4PY: both metabolic end products of excess niacin.
Connections are complex
The researchers investigated the connection further and found that the path from high 2PY and 4PY levels to the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases runs through inflammatory processes in the vessels.
“Paradoxically, niacin can lower cholesterol levels and has been tested as a cholesterol-lowering agent in clinical trials in the past, but did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease as expected,” it said in a statement. “The connections are therefore complex, and our findings fit well with this paradox,” the researchers are quoted as saying.
Niacin is important
Niacin is also known as vitamin B3. Adults should consume around 15 milligrams per day. Normally there is no fear of a defect. However, things were different in the USA during the Great Depression in the first half of the 20th century. Many Americans suffered from life-threatening nutritional deficiencies. Since then, flour and grain products have been fortified with niacin there to this day.
Today’s usual diet is now leading to an oversupply of the population. In addition, niacin and other substances that are metabolized into the same breakdown products in the body are freely available as anti-aging dietary supplements.
1710397882
#Niacin #risk #factor #heart #blood #vessels