Vitamin B3 may help in stroke treatment

by S. C.

Vitamin B3 or niacin, a common water-soluble vitamin, may help improve neurological function after stroke, an early study suggests.

When rats with ischemic stroke were given niacin, their brains showed growth of new blood vessels, and sprouting of nerve cells which greatly improved neurological outcome.

Now research is underway at Henry Ford to investigate the effects of an extended-release form of niacin on stroke patients.
"If this proves to also work well in our human trials, we'll then have the benefit of a low-cost, easily-tolerable treatment for one of the most neurologically devastating conditions," Michael Chopp, PhD, scientific director of the Henry Ford Neuroscience Institute.

Dr Chopp will present results from the animal model study at the International Stroke Conference in San Antonio.

Ischemic strokes occur as a result of an obstruction within a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. Ischemic stroke accounts for about 87 per cent of all cases. One underlying condition for this type of obstruction is the development of fatty cholesterol deposits lining the vessel walls.

Niacin is known to be the most effective medicine in current clinical use for increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), which helps those fatty deposits.

Eating food rich in nutrients is more than enough to boost your immunity against colds and flu instead of just popping too many vitamins, says a new study.

"Almost all vitamins and minerals play some role in ensuring an optimal immune response...but high doses do not help and may do harm," says Catherine Field, dietician and professor of nutrition at the University of Alberta.