High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is one of the most common health problems around the world. It increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, kidney disease, and other serious illnesses.
Although many people can control their blood pressure with medicine and healthy lifestyle habits, some continue to have high readings even after taking several different blood pressure drugs.
This condition is known as drug-resistant hypertension. Researchers estimate that about 12.8% of people with high blood pressure fall into this group. At the same time, blood pressure targets have become stricter, with many health guidelines now defining hypertension as 130/80 mmHg instead of the older target of 140/90 mmHg, making effective treatment even more important.
A new study suggests that a simple and inexpensive approach may help some people. Researchers from the University of Maine found evidence that lowering blood levels of a substance called homocysteine with B vitamin supplements may improve blood pressure control.
The study was led by Merrill Elias and published in the American Journal of Hypertension.
Homocysteine is a natural substance produced when the body breaks down proteins. Normally, the body keeps homocysteine at healthy levels with the help of several B vitamins, including vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folate, also called vitamin B9, and riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2.
However, some people have high homocysteine because of inherited genes or because they do not get enough of these vitamins.
When homocysteine levels become too high, blood vessels may become damaged or narrower. This can make it harder for blood to flow normally and may increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular problems. Because of this, scientists have become interested in whether lowering homocysteine could improve heart health.
In this research, the team reviewed findings from earlier studies that examined B vitamin supplements and blood pressure. They found that lowering homocysteine with B vitamins reduced systolic blood pressure by about 6 to 13 mmHg. Even a drop of this size can meaningfully reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes over time.
The researchers also highlighted another issue. Many laboratories still report homocysteine levels of up to 11.4 micromoles per litre as normal, even though some experts recommend levels of 10 micromoles per litre or lower.
They believe laboratory reference ranges may need updating because lower homocysteine levels could provide better protection for long-term health.
Although the findings are encouraging, the researchers do not recommend that people start taking high-dose B vitamin supplements on their own.
The right type and amount of vitamins can differ from person to person, especially for people with medical conditions or those already taking prescription medicines. Anyone interested in vitamin therapy should first speak with their doctor or another qualified healthcare professional.
This research suggests that B vitamins could become a useful addition to standard blood pressure treatment, particularly for people whose blood pressure remains high despite medication.
However, vitamin supplements are not a replacement for prescribed medicines, healthy eating, regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing salt, limiting alcohol, and avoiding smoking. All of these approaches work together to improve heart health.
More clinical studies are still needed to confirm exactly who benefits the most from this approach and what doses are most effective.
Even so, this research offers hope that an affordable and widely available group of vitamins may one day help many people gain better control of high blood pressure. It also reminds us that sometimes small changes in nutrition can make an important difference to long-term health.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about blood pressure drug that may increase risk of sudden cardiac arrest, and these teas could help reduce high blood pressure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about nutrient that could strongly lower high blood pressure, and results showing this novel antioxidant may help reverse blood vessels aging by 20 years.
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