What is homocysteine ? Homocyteine is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, osteoporosis and several neurodegenerative diseases., In diabetics, homocysteine adds a significant burden, especially in those with poorly controlled blood glucose. Homocysteine levels below 6 umol/L are to be ideal. and moderate risk begins when levels are between 9 - 13 umol/L/. Levels above 13 are associated with and may be seen in kidney diseases.
These are the factors causing Hyperhomocysteinemia:
1. increased age; 2. male gender ; 3. menopause
A diet low in consumption of fruits and vegetables, no consumption of multivitamins, low intake of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 and a diet high in methionine containing proteins.
So you do not get panicked--there are diseases with higher homocysteine levels., These are diabetes, kidney diseases, certain malignancies, rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, psoriasis, and enzxyme deficiencies as methionine synthetase.
I have mentioned methionine twice so there are metabolic pathways concerting homocysteine to either cysteine and/ or methionine ( 2 other amino acids) It is straight forward in reducing homocysteine levels. You do this by increasing the intake of folates, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin B6 If you have the MTHFR gene you will need to take methylB12 and methylfolate This is very common 40 % of the adult population has a methyl gene defect.
B12 is by far the most studied single ingredient to reduce homocysteine. I prefer to use a methylated folic acid as there is a very common enzyme deficiency (5 MTHFR) A methylated folic acid is more beneficial. If you cannot get a methylated folic acid, then you can use TMG ( trimethylglycine) as it is a methyl donor and an alternative substrate for converting homocysteine to methionine.
There are some drugs that can also increase homocysteine as metformin ( glucophage for diabetes) niacin, theophylline ( for asthma () and estrogens ( as in birth control) There are others but these are just a few.
Until tomorrrow...