A study reveals that oral supplements of folic acid may be a cheap and safe way to improve vascular function in young women who play athletics and suffer amenorrhea (no period). The work appears in the May issue of the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine.
Although the benefits of exercise are known, there are risks to health. The young athletes who do not have enough dietary energy to compensate for spending may stop menstruating or have irregular periods. This results in profiles of estrogen similar to those of a postmenopausal woman, which leads to an increased risk of developing early heart disease. 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.
Both they and those who menstruated normally received 10 milligrams of folic acid daily for four weeks. Vascular function was normal in all women at the end of the study.
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, say that consumption of omega-3 found in fish and some vegetables, do not provide any beneficial effect on cognitive function of those older people who consume these products against than previously thought, according to results of a study published in the latest issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.“