How Can Elevated Homocysteine Levels Affect Your Health?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Vitamins B12

What are the symptoms of high homocysteine?

  • pale skin.
  • weakness.
  • fatigue.
  • tingling sensations (like pins and needles) in the hands, arms, legs, or feet.
  • dizziness.
  • mouth sores.
  • mood changes.

What causes homocysteine levels to be high?

What causes raised levels? Many factors are thought to raise levels of homocysteine. Among these are

poor diet, poor lifestyle especially smoking and high coffee and alcohol intake

.

Can homocysteine levels be lowered?


Elevated homocysteine levels can be lowered

. We know that folic acid, vitamin B

6

, and vitamin B

12

are all involved in breaking down homocysteine in the blood. Therefore, increasing your intake of folic acid and B vitamins may lower your homocysteine level.

Does homocysteine cause inflammation?

Background: An elevated level of homocysteine (Hcy) has been shown to be a cardiovascular risk factor in the majority of research studies. Recently,

it was found to be associated with new risk factors such as inflammatory markers

.

Does high homocysteine levels cause anxiety?

Researchers have also reported that

increased homocysteine levels elevate the anxiety effects by direct neurotoxic effects

(Bisschops et al., 2004; Kruman et al., 2000; Sachdev, 2004), reducing the synthesis of neurotransmitters due to decreased and nonrecycling of s-adenosyl methionine (Bottiglieri et al., 1992, 2000) …

Does zinc lower homocysteine?


With zinc supplementation, homocysteine levels reduced significantly

(from 13.71 ± 3.84 μmol/l to 11.79 ± 3.06 μmol/l; p < 0.05), which did not occur on placebo (from 12.59 ± 2.13 μmol/l to 13.36 ± 2.03 μmol/l).

What medications cause high homocysteine levels?

Drugs such as

methotrexate, 6-azauridine, nicotinic acid, and bile acid sequestrants

cause elevations in homocysteine levels.

How can I lower my homocysteine levels naturally?


A healthy, balanced diet containing at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day

will help to lower your homocysteine level and keep it within the ideal range. Folic acid and vitamins B-6 and B-12 have been shown to have the greatest effect at breaking down harmful homocysteine from within the body.

What diagnosis covers homocysteine?

Homocysteine levels will be covered by Medicare to confirm

Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency

. known vascular disease or risk thereof (based upon abnormal lipid metabolism, high blood pressure (BP) or diabetes mellitus (DM)) for the purpose of risk stratification.

Which vitamins reduce homocysteine?

Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood, and elevated levels have been linked to dementia, heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis. The good news: Homocysteine can be lowered easily and inexpensively with a trio of B vitamins —

B6, B12, and folic acid

.

Does coffee raise homocysteine levels?

Coffee drinking elevates plasma homocysteine and risk factors for coronary heart disease. High plasma homocysteine concentration is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and

consumption of unfiltered and filtered coffee raises homocysteine levels

.

Does homocysteine cause stroke?


Elevated blood homocysteine concentration increases the risk of stroke, especially among hypertensive individuals

. Homocysteine is largely affected by the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and folate status.

Does magnesium lower homocysteine?


Magnesium also reduced the increase of MMP-2 production induced by homocysteine

. Production of MMP-2 under various treatments for 72 h increased more than during 24 or 48 h. Conclusions: Homocysteine (50-1,000 micromol/L) significantly increased the production of MMP-2 in a dose-dependent manner.

Does vitamin B12 lower homocysteine?


Supplementation with vitamin B12 decreases homocysteine

and methylmalonic acid but also serum folate in patients with end-stage renal disease. Metabolism.

Can high homocysteine levels cause headaches?

Some researchers postulate that deficits in mitochondrial energy reserves can cause migraine or

an increase in homocysteine levels can lead to migraine attacks

; therefore, vitamins could play a vital role in migraine prevention.

Can homocysteine cause high blood pressure?

In unadjusted analyses,

a 1-SD higher log homocysteine value was associated with increased odds of developing hypertension

(odds ratio [OR], 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 1.32) and increased odds of blood pressure progression (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.27).

Is homocysteine an inflammatory marker?

Since inflammation promotes cell proliferation at the expense of excess vitamins leading to hyperhomocysteinemia, therefore,

homocysteine can be used as a marker of inflammation

to indicate the presence of inflammation.

Can homocysteine cause heart failure?


An elevated homocysteine level has been also reported to be a risk factor for the development of congestive heart failure (CHF) in individuals free of myocardial infarction

.

How is high homocysteine treated?

If you have high homocysteine levels, your healthcare provider may recommend

taking supplements of: Vitamin B6. Vitamin B12. Folic acid (the human-made form of folate)

.

How does homocysteine affect mood?

Abstract. High levels of homocysteine are associated with cerebrovascular disease, monoamine neurotransmitters, and

depression of mood

. A plausible hypothesis for these associations is that high homocysteine levels cause cerebral vascular disease and neurotransmitter deficiency, which cause depression of mood.

Does vitamin C lower homocysteine?

It appears that the combination of vitamins C and E may be an antidote to homocysteine, and one that works more quickly than traditional treatments such as vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid. These vitamins

can lower homocysteine levels over the course of a few weeks

. In contrast, vitamins C and E can act within hours.

Does Tea raise homocysteine levels?

Conclusions:

Chlorogenic acid, a compound in coffee, and black tea raise total homocysteine concentrations in plasma

. Chlorogenic acid could be partly responsible for the higher homocysteine concentrations observed in coffee drinkers.

Does lowering homocysteine prevent cardiovascular disease?

A second meta-analysis of 18 retrospective and 12 prospective studies (4) determined that

a 25% reduction in homocysteine levels was associated with an 11% lower ischemic heart disease risk and a 19% lower stroke risk

.

Can high homocysteine levels cause neuropathy?


Elevated levels of Hcy may be a risk factor for diabetic autonomic neuropathy

.

Does aspirin lower homocysteine?


Aspirin downregulates homocysteine formation

in stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Is homocysteine genetic?

Background.

Some people develop an elevated homocysteine level, in part, because of a genetic predisposition

. People with milder elevations in homocysteine may have a mutation in a gene called MTHFR (Figure). The MTHFR gene normally produces an enzyme that helps regulate homocysteine levels in the body.

Charlene Dyck
Author
Charlene Dyck
Charlene is a software developer and technology expert with a degree in computer science. She has worked for major tech companies and has a keen understanding of how computers and electronics work. Sarah is also an advocate for digital privacy and security.