In people such as older adults and postmenopausal women, who typically have high levels of homocysteine in their blood, the risk of heart attack and stroke increases. Folate and other B vitamins may bring about a decrease in heart disease risk because they break down homocysteine. Folate in Your Diet Randomized, controlled trials are needed to determine if managing homocysteine levels, as is done with cholesterol, could join the list of heart safeguards. That deed is accomplished simply by eating a balanced diet that includes the already recommended ve daily servings of fruits and vegetables. High blood pressure, or hypertension, was long ago shown to predispose people to atherosclerosis, heart attack and stroke.
Hypertension is indeed an affliction of aging.
The number of men and women with high blood pressure rapidly escalates in older age groups. More than 50 percent of Americans over age 65 have high blood pressure. First-line treatment to control hypertension involves a healthy diet, exercise and weight loss. If that fails, physicians prescribe antihypertensives such as ACE inhibitors. Until the 1980s, the presumed and only bene t of ACE inhibitors was the foiling of the body's production of angiotensin, a chemical that constricts arteries, so that blood can ow through vessels easier.