Vitamin B6 Affects Heart Health in Women

by | Oct 19, 2009 | 2009, Cardiovascular Health, Vitamin B6, Women's Health

Written by  Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. 

Of the nearly 80 million Americans with cardiovascular disease (CVD), nearly 16 million have had a heart attack. It is estimated that each year, 700,000 Americans will have a heart attack for the first time, with heart attacks causing one in every five deaths each year in the U.S. Finally, heart attacks cost our healthcare system $151.6 billion each year (1).

Now a new study (2) has found that vitamin B6 may help maintain heart health, especially in women. The study included nearly 33,000 women between the ages of 30 and 55 participating in the Nurse’s Health Study (3). They provided blood samples and diet information from food frequency questionnaires every two years between 1989 and 1998. Of the 33,000 patients, 141 had heart attacks.

The researchers found vitamin B6 blood levels to be directly related to heart attack risk. Specifically, compared to those with the highest vitamin B6 blood levels (>70 picomoles/milliliter), those with the lowest vitamin B6 blood levels (<27.9 picomoles/milliliter) had a 76% higher risk of heart attack.

The researchers cite the reduced heart attack risk offered by keeping vitamin B6 levels high because of vitamin B6’s role in helping convert homocysteine, a protein associated with increased heart attack risk (4), to cysteine. For the researchers, “a lower fasting concentration of [vitamin B6] is significantly associated with an increased risk of heart attack in predominantly postmenopausal women.”

The recommended dietary allowance by the National Institutes of Health for vitamin B6 ranges from 1.3 to 2.0 mg per day (5).

Source: Page, John H., et al. “Plasma vitamin B6 and risk of myocardial infarction in women.” Circulation 120.8 (2009): 649-655.

© 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.

Posted October 19, 2009.

References:

  1. American Heart Association Update. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2007 Update. Circulation. 2007;115:e69-e171
  2. Page JH. Plasma Vitamin B6 and Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Women. Circulation 2009; 120:649-655
  3. Nurse’s Health Study details posted on the Nurse’s Health Study website.
  4. Sun Y. Use of serum homocysteine to predict stroke, coronary heart disease and death in ethnic Chinese. 12-year prospective cohort study. Circ J. 2009 Aug;73(8):1423-30. Epub 2009 Jun 11.
  5. “Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin B6” posted on the Office of Dietary Supplements website.