NEWS
July 25, 1995 | From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A simple vitamin deficiency could trigger 30% to 40% of the heart attacks and strokes suffered by American men each year, a researcher reported at a genetics meeting in Bar Harbor, Me. The vitamin is folic acid, heralded in recent years for its critical role in preventing birth defects. About 400 micrograms of folic acid per day seems to be enough to lower homocysteine to a safe level, geneticist Judith Hall said, protecting against heart attacks, strokes and birth defects.