Antioxidant vitamins and folic acid do not slow development of cardiovascular disease in high-risk women, according to a late-breaking clinical trial presentation at the American Heart Association meeting.

The Women's Antioxidant and Folic Acid Cardiovascular Study (WAFACS) was
a randomized, placebo-controlled study of folic acid and other B vitamins in a subset of 5,442 women participating the larger Women's Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study (WACS), a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of antioxidant vitamins with 8,171 women. Participants were health professionals over age 40 years who either had a history of cardiovascular disease or were considered at high risk due to three or more risk factors such as hypertension, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, and smoking.

Researchers compared effects of a combination of folic acid (2.5 milligrams daily), vitamin B6 (50 mg daily) and vitamin B12 (1 mg daily) versus placebo in reducing risk of major vascular events including coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Average follow-up was 7.3 years and included tracking for myocardial infarction, strokes, coronary revascularization procedures, and cardiovascular deaths.

The two groups were equally likely to have a major cardiovascular event.

"Our study does not suggest that taking folic acid, B6 or B12 primarily to prevent cardiovascular disease would be worthwhile. Women who are taking them solely for that purpose may want to discontinue," said Christine M. Albert, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and director of the Center for Arrhythmia Prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Researchers found no adverse effects from the vitamins and noted that there are important non-cardiac reasons to take them including during pregnancy.