Brother Wu is fifty-three years old this year. During the check-up last year, the doctor said that his blood pressure was a little high, about 160/100mmHg. But Brother Wu felt that he was still young and didn't feel much in his body, so he didn't take blood pressure medication seriously.
But his daughter was very worried, and always persuaded him: "Dad, you have to take medicine to control your blood pressure." ”
Under the persuasion of his daughter, Brother Wu finally started to take medicine, and his blood pressure soon dropped to about 125/78mmHg, which was quite stable.
But the good times don't last long, and after more than three months, Brother Wu found that after taking the medicine, his blood pressure still rose. He rushed to the hospital for an examination, and it turned out that the homocysteine in his body was elevated.
The doctor said, "You have to add some folic acid to eat." "Unexpectedly, this folic acid really worked, and my blood pressure quickly stabilized again.
Brother Wu now thinks that this folic acid is simply a miraculous little pill! He always thought that folic acid was something only eaten by pregnant women, but he didn't expect that it could help him lower blood pressure? Why is folic acid so magical?
01
Stroke, commonly known as "stroke", is an acute cerebrovascular disease caused by the sudden rupture of blood vessels in the brain or the inability of blood to flow into the brain due to blockage of blood vessels.
In recent years, the number of cerebral infarction patients in China has been increasing, while the incidence of cerebral infarction in the United States has been gradually decreasing.
The reason behind this, in addition to the differences between the two countries in terms of medical systems, lifestyles, dietary habits, etc., folic acid supplementation is also a factor that cannot be ignored.
In China, the high incidence of cerebral infarction is closely related to the prevalence and poor control of hypertension. According to statistics, the awareness, treatment and control rates of hypertension patients in mainland China are lower than the ideal level.
As a result, many patients have long-term blood pressure that is not effectively controlled, which in turn increases the risk of stroke.
In addition, smoking is also an important driver of the increase in the incidence of stroke. The proportion of smokers among stroke patients in mainland China remains high, and smoking directly leads to a significant increase in stroke incidence.
02
Folic acid, as an important water-soluble vitamin, plays a key role in reducing homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is an independent risk factor for stroke onset, and elevated levels increase the risk of stroke.
Therefore, appropriate folic acid supplementation can effectively reduce the incidence of stroke.
However, folic acid deficiency is common in China. This may have something to do with our eating habits, lifestyle, and lack of awareness of the importance of folic acid.
In order to improve this situation, we should strengthen the publicity and popularization of folic acid, raise public awareness of the importance of folic acid, and encourage everyone to increase their intake of folic acid through diet or supplements.
It is worth mentioning that although folic acid has a positive effect on stroke prevention, it is not a panacea. For hypertensive patients who do not have high homocysteine, folic acid supplementation alone may have limited effect.
Therefore, we need to consider a variety of factors to develop an individualized prevention strategy.
03
In addition to preventing stroke, folic acid has many other health benefits.
It reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is a common cardiovascular disease that is directly related to high homocysteine levels. By supplementing with folic acid, we can effectively reduce the level of homocysteine, which in turn reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease.
Secondly, folic acid can also delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, and elevated homocysteine levels are one of the independent risk factors for its occurrence.
Folic acid supplementation can reduce homocysteine levels, thereby helping to prevent the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease.
In addition, folic acid is also of great significance for the prevention of senile anemia. Anemia is one of the common health problems of the elderly, and folic acid deficiency is an important cause of anemia.
By supplementing folic acid, we can effectively prevent the occurrence of senile anemia and improve the quality of life of the elderly.
Finally, folic acid can also improve male dysfunction. Male dysfunction is a common sexual problem, and folic acid supplementation can help improve male dysfunction by increasing the expression of nitric oxide enzyme, which indirectly affects erectile function in men.
04
To maximize the health benefits of folic acid, we need to pay attention to the following:
Make sure you get enough folic acid every day. In general, healthy adults need about 400 mcg of folic acid per day. We can meet this need with food or supplements. Foods rich in folate include green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, etc.
Avoid excessive intake of folic acid. Although folic acid is beneficial to human health, excessive intake can also bring some side effects, such as masking the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency and affecting the absorption of zinc. Therefore, we need to make a reasonable supplementary plan according to the actual situation of the individual.
Finally, we need to pay attention to the synergies with other nutrients. For example, vitamin C inhibits the absorption of folic acid in the gastrointestinal tract and accelerates its excretion. Therefore, while supplementing with folic acid, we should avoid excessive intake of foods or supplements rich in vitamin C.
In summary, folic acid has a positive significance in the prevention of stroke and other health problems. However, in order to maximize its health gains, we need to develop a reasonable supplementation plan based on our own situation and pay attention to the synergies with other nutrients.
At the same time, we should also realize that folic acid is not a panacea, and a variety of factors need to be considered in the prevention of stroke.