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HOMOCYSTEINE CAUSES CLOTS
A study from France shows that people who get clots in the heart, lungs, brain or muscles should get blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a).
After a person suffers from a heart attack, stroke, or lung or muscle clot, doctors routinely look for obesity, cancer, family history of clotting, birth control pills, high cholesterol and factor V Leiden disease. They should also check blood levels of homocysteine and Lp(a). Lack of any one of three vitamins causes the clot-forming homocysteine to accumulate in your bloodstream. You can lower blood levels of homocysteine to normal by taking folic acid, vitamin B12 and pyridoxine. If you have a genetic disorder, Lp(a), that causes clots, you can lower Lp(a) to normal by taking another vitamin called niacin. So, people who suffer clots need blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a), two conditions that can be cured by taking vitamins.
Red blood cell methylfolate and plasma homocysteine as risk factors for venous thromboembolism: a matched case-control study. Lancet, 2002, Vol 359, Iss 9308, pp 747-752. I Quere, TV Perneger, J Zittoun, H Bellet, JC Gris, JP Daures, JF Schved, E Mercier, JP Laroche, M Dauzat, H Bounameaux, C Janbon, P deMoerloose.
Reported 3/1/02; checked 9/8/05