Posts Tagged ‘folic acid’

Folic acid improves vascular function in amenorrhea runners

A study reveals that oral supplements of folic acid may be cheap and safe ways to improve vascular function in young women suffer who practice athletics and amenorrhea (no period). The work appears in the May issue of Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine.

Although the benefits of exercise are known, there are risks to health. The young athletes who do not have a diet sufficiently to offset the energy they expend can stop having periods or irregular periods. This results in profiles of estrogen similar to those of a postmenopausal woman, which poses a greater risk of developing heart disease early. The prevalence of amenorrhea is 44 percent among the 23 million young people in school who are at least six times a week in the U.S.

Anne Hoch, the University of Wisconsin (USA) analyzed the effect of folic acid supplements in the dilation of the brachial artery, the alteration is one of the signs that allows the early diagnosis of heart disease.

Hoch analyzed 20 athletes aged between 18 and 35 who did not take the pill and had run at least 20 miles per week (32.2 km) in the previous 12 months. At baseline, girls who had amenorrhea group had a reduced arterial dilation, similar to that of a postmenopausal woman. Read the rest of this entry »