Higher total folate intake is associated with a decreased risk of hypertension, particularly in younger women.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston investigated on link between folate consumption and lower blood pressure, by analyzing data from 93803 young women, aged 27 to 44 years, who participated in the Nurses' Health Study II, and 62260 older women, aged 43 to 70 years, who took part in the Nurses' Health Study I, without previous history of hypertension.

Information on dietary folate and supplemental folic acid intake was gathered by questionnaires every 4 years.

During 8 years of follow-up, researchers identified 7373 cases of hypertension in younger women and 12347 cases in older women.

Younger women who consumed at least 1 mg/day of total folate ( dietary plus supplemental ) had a decreased risk of hypertension ( relative risk, RR = 0.54 ), compared with those who consumed less than 0.2 mg/day.

The absolute risk reduction for younger women was 8 cases of hypertension per 1000 women-years ( 6.7 versus 14.8 ).

The relative risk in older women was 0.82

The absolute relative risk for the older women was 6 cases of hypertension per 1000 women-years ( 34.7 versus 40.4 ).

The risk of developing hypertension decreased by 46 percent for younger women who consumed at least 1 mg of folate per day.

Source : JAMA, 2005


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