Beijing, Sep 20 (IANS): Shedding fresh light on the link between heart attacks and vitamin B supplements, researchers have found such supplements lower the risk of strokes to a considerable extent.

New evidence suggests that taking vitamin B supplements may help reduce the risk of stroke. The research appears in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"Previous studies have conflicting findings regarding the use of vitamin B supplements and stroke or heart attack," said author Xu Yuming, with Zhengzhou University, China. "Some studies have even suggested that the supplements may increase the risk of these events."

Scientists analyzed 14 randomized clinical trials with a total of 54,913 participants. All of the studies compared B vitamin use with a placebo or a very low-dose B vitamin.

Participants were then observed for six months. There were 2,471 strokes throughout the studies, all of which showed some benefit of taking vitamin B, reports Science Daily.

Vitamin B lowered the risk of stroke in the studies overall by seven percent. However, taking supplements did not appear to affect the severity of strokes or risk of death from stroke.

Folic acid, a supplemental form of folate (vitamin B9), which is often found in fortified cereals, appeared to reduce the effect of vitamin B.