A recent scientific review has found that low levels of vitamin B12 may be connected to a greater likelihood of cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to reporting by Sharjah24. At the same time, the outlet reported, current evidence does not firmly establish that taking the vitamin on its own wards off heart attacks or lowers deaths linked to them.
The review, covered by Sharjah24 on Tuesday, examined how a shortage of the nutrient might affect the heart and blood vessels, and where the science still falls short.
Why it matters
Vitamin B12 is essential for normal blood and nerve function, and deficiency is not rare. According to Sharjah24, the groups most exposed to a shortfall include older adults, people who follow vegetarian or vegan diets, patients with chronic kidney disease, and individuals who have undergone obesity surgery.
If low B12 does raise cardiovascular risk, that would give clinicians and patients one more reason to monitor levels in these populations. But the review's caution matters just as much: it distinguishes between treating a known deficiency, which remains necessary, and assuming that supplements protect the heart in general, which the evidence does not yet support.
The homocysteine pathway
Sharjah24 reported that the review outlines a possible mechanism. When vitamin B12 is in short supply, levels of homocysteine — an amino acid in the blood — can climb. Elevated homocysteine may in turn damage blood vessels and make atherosclerosis, the hardening and narrowing of arteries, more likely.
That chain of reasoning is plausible but not the same as proof that correcting B12 alone reduces heart events. The review, as described by Sharjah24, treats the link as an association that warrants attention rather than a settled causal story.
What the stroke data show — and what they don't
The review also looked at trials involving B vitamins more broadly. Sharjah24 reported that some studies found taking a combination of B vitamins was associated with roughly a 10 percent lower risk of stroke. In countries that do not require folic acid to be added to food, that figure was reported to rise to between 30 and 35 percent.
The researchers stressed, according to Sharjah24, that these findings cannot be credited to vitamin B12 alone. Most of the studies relied on a mix of B vitamins, so isolating the effect of any single one is not possible from the available data.
A treatment question, not a supplement endorsement
The review's conclusion, as reported by Sharjah24, is twofold. Correcting a B12 deficiency remains necessary to protect blood health and the nervous system. But whether supplements meaningfully cut cardiovascular risk — and which patients would benefit most — still needs further research.
For readers, that translates into a familiar distinction: a diagnosed deficiency is a medical matter to discuss with a clinician, while routine supplementation as heart protection is not something the current evidence justifies on its own.
Watch for follow-up studies designed to test B12 separately from other B vitamins, since that is the gap the review identifies.
