Comments on: Polypills or Vitamins for Homocysteine and Cardiovascular Risks: the Hype is Ahead of the Evidence

By: Patrick Holford Promotes His Apocryphal Homocysteine Gospel in The News of the World « Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:06:19 +0000

[...] Levels? Part 2 Patrick Holford, Alzheimer’s Disease, Homocysteine Tests and Supplements Polypills or Vitamins for Homocysteine and Cardiovascular Risks: the Hype is Ahead of the Evidence Gene Sherpa on [...]

By: Patrick Holford on Statins and Why You Should Spend Money on His Supplements As Well or Instead « Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science

Thu, 29 May 2008 03:03:42 +0000

[...] expressed some of our own mixed feelings in our recent item about polypills of which statins are a component. However, the associated research issues continue to be [...]

By: UKdietitian

UKdietitian — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:41:46 +0000

dvnutrix says
“it will cost around £700-£1000 per person, pa, for something that has not been demonstrated to be helpful ”

so its a similar cost to ‘nutritional diagnosis’ and ‘treatment’ at the Brain Bio Centre, then :)

By: dvnutrix

dvnutrix — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:39:29 +0000

Professor UK Dietitian, a pleasure, as always, to have your take on the matter. It is unfortunate and distracting when people obsess on false surrogate end-points such as blood pressure or Hcy levels rather than usable, clinical outcomes such as morbidity or mortality.

I can see that as people grow older, they want to stack the cards in their favour and may be interested in pursuing tests and supplementation. Fine – but it will cost around £700-£1000 per person, pa, for something that has not been demonstrated to be helpful – and there is a slight niggle that supplementation might be harmful for some groups that have yet to be defined.

By: Robet Estrada

Robet Estrada — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:19:24 +0000

Life is complicated. The answers are not simple. Honesty and inteligence are needed in the search for answers. Thank you for being a reliable portal in the spread of information that is of use for those of us trying to navigate life.
Robert “I amnot an otter ” Estrada

By: UK dietitian

UK dietitian — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:29:00 +0000

Well done Holfordwatchers for a neat summary of the evidence.

It has long been considered that homocysteine is a mere marker of vascular (blood vessel) risk rather than a causative agent.

The bottom line? High homocysteine is a risk factor. Lowering it does not lower risk. All you have done is lower the ‘marker’, not the problem.