Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own opinion. I have no further knowledge of the topic. ------------------------ J Intern Med. 2005 Sep;258(3):244-9. Low levels of vitamin B and venous thromboembolic disease in elderly men. Diaz DE Tuesta AM, Ribo MD, Belinchon O, Marchena PJ, Bruscas MJ, Val E, Cortes A, Nieto JA. Department of Internal Medicine, Virgen de al Luz Hospital, Cuenca, Spain. Objectives. Hyperhomocysteinaemia is a well-known risk factor for venous thromboembolic disease (VTD). However, it is not clear whether homocysteine (Hc) itself or a related metabolite or a cofactor is primarily responsible for VTD. We carried out a case-control study to investigate whether vitamin concentrations that are involved in the Hc metabolism are associated or not with an elevated risk of VTD. Design. Case-control study. Methods. We measured serum vitamin B(12), folate, creatinine and albumin concentrations and plasma Hc concentrations in 101 consecutive patients with VTD, diagnosed by image tests and 101 control subjects, matched for age and sex. Results. Serum vitamin B(12) concentrations were significantly lower in VTD patients than in the control subjects. There were no differences in plasma Hc or serum folate concentrations between the groups. Among the male subgroup aged more than 70 years, serum vitamin B(12) concentrations were significantly lower (240.88 +/- 103.07 vs. 421.20 +/- 314.31 pmol L(-1); P = 0.03) and plasma Hc concentrations were significantly higher (13.1 +/- 4.18 vs. 10.56 +/- 3.06 mumol L(-1); P =0.04) in VTD patients than in the control group. On multivariate analysis, in patients aged more than 70 years, serum vitamin B(12) concentrations were independently associated with VTD. Compared with the highest quartile of vitamin B(12) (>512.6 pmol L(-1)) the odds ratio (OR) for VTD in the lowest quartile (<230.9 pmol L(-1)) was 3.8 (95% CI 1.44-10.18; P = 0.01). In the VTD group, lowest vitamin B(12) concentrations (percentile 10 <152.8 pmol L(-1)) were associated with the factor V Leiden mutation (OR = 6.07, 95% CI 0.93-38.55; P = 0.04). Conclusions. Measuring vitamin B(12) concentrations in elderly males may help in identifying people at risk of venous thromboembolism in our population. PMID: 16115298 [PubMed - in process] -- Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD < [log in to unmask] > "Ask the Parkinson Dietitian" http://www.parkinson.org/ "Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease" "Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy" http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent through the Ageing in Europe mailing list. Please visit the homepage of the ESA Research Network on Ageing in Europe at http://www.ageing-in-europe.de ----------------------------------------------------------------