A Supplement may promote healthy Arterial Aging

A small pilot study of older people suggests that taking a daily supplement of a nutrient that is present naturally in foods may improve artery health and blood pressure.

The researchers found that the supplement called NicotinamideRiboside mimics some of the effects of caloric restriction and activates several identical biological pathways.

Studies of caloric restriction which have been done mainly in rodents and fruit flies and not so much in humans indicate that reducing daily calorie intake by a third may delay the aging process and lengthen lifespan.

The new study found that taking Nicotinamide Riboside supplements significantly improved blood pressure in people with mild hypertension, or elevated blood pressure.

Elevated blood pressure and stage 1 high blood pressure are now defined as a blood pressure of 120/80 or 139/89 milli meters of mercury, respectively, which although is not high enough to justify medication is high enough to raise the risk for a heart attack or stroke. Currently, the recommended options for people with elevated blood pressure include changes to diet and increasing physical activity.

Nicotinamide Riboside

Nicotinamide riboside is a trace nutrient present in certain foods such as cow's milk and in higher concentrations in dietary supplement form.

Studies have indicated that the nutrient contains "unique properties as a vitamin B-3" that include:

• Raising insulin sensitivity
• Boosting the effects of exercise
• Protecting the brain
• Resisting the harmful effects of a high-fat diet.

For their study, researchers recruited 24 lean and healthy men and women from the Boulder area. Their ages ranged from 55 to 79 and they were put into two groups.

One of the groups took 500 milligrams of Nicotinamide Riboside chloride twice per day for 6 weeks, and then spent another 6 weeks taking a placebo. The other group followed the opposite pattern: they took a placebo for 6 weeks, and then a twice-daily 500-milligram dose of Nicotinamide Riboside chloride for another 6 weeks.

The team analyzed blood samples that the subjects gave at the end of each treatment period, and they took other "physiological measurements" at these times. There were no serious side effects.

An evolutionary survival mechanism

The results showed that taking 1,000 milligrams of Nicotinamide Riboside each day increased levels of Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) by 60 percent.

NAD+ is a compound that activates sirtuins, a group of enzymes thought to be responsible for the beneficial effects that calorie restriction has on healthy aging and longevity. The compound levels of which tend to wane with age  is involved in many of the body's metabolic processes.

There is a theory, which is supported by research, that our bodies are programmed by evolution to conserve NAD+ when food is scarce, and that this is activated when we restrict calorie intake.

More recent research has also begun to investigate the possibility that older adults might regain this protective property and age more healthily by taking supplements of "NAD+ precursors," such as nicotinamide riboside.

The results also found that nicotinamide riboside supplementation caused a drop in systolic blood pressure of 10 points in 13 of the participants who had elevated blood pressure or stage 1 high blood pressure. This represents a 25 percent reduction in the risk of having a heart attack.

Grace your valuable presence at 28th International Conference on Cardiology and Healthcare during 09-11, 2018 in Abu Dhabi, UAE for more recent updates in cardiology research.

For details contact:

Aurora Lorenz 
Program Manager-Cardiology Care 2018

Mail:cardiology@healthconference.org;healthcare@cardiologyconference.org