A vitamin supplement costing just £1 a day could help millions of Britons suffering from poor circulation
A vitamin supplement costing just £1 a day could help millions of Britons suffering from poor circulation.
Researchers have found that nicotinamide riboside – a type of vitamin B3 – can significantly increase mobility in people with peripheral arterial disease. The condition is thought to affect 2.7 million people in Britain, most of whom are over the age of 50.
It occurs when arteries – often in the lower legs, although it can also occur in the arms – become narrowed due to fatty deposits called plaques, which gradually restrict blood flow.
The poor circulation then causes chronic leg pain. Muscle and skin tissue also begin to die, leading to ulcers that do not heal and – in the worst cases – amputation of the lower leg.
The main causes of peripheral arterial disease are smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, increased cholesterol and simply aging. Most patients are given medications, such as aspirin, to thin the blood and reduce the risk of clotting. If that doesn’t work, a small tube called a stent can be inserted into narrowed blood vessels to improve flow.
Researchers have found that nicotinamide riboside – a type of vitamin B3 – can significantly increase mobility in people with peripheral arterial disease (Stock Image)
A vitamin supplement costing just £1 a day could help millions of Brits suffering from poor circulation (Stock Image)
But one of the biggest problems for patients is that the pain affects their mobility, making even walking a few steps difficult.
Scientists from Northwestern University and the University of Florida tested nicotinamide riboside supplements on 90 men and women – mostly in their 70s – who had the condition. They measured how far each volunteer could walk in six minutes.
Half the group took the £1 a day supplement for six months, while the rest took a placebo.
The results, published in the journal Nature Communications, showed that those who took the supplement – widely available in pharmacies and health food stores – were able to walk 7 meters further by the end of the trial. The placebo group, meanwhile, walked an average of 10 meters less.
The vitamin is thought to stimulate energy production in the body’s cells.
It has also been shown to accelerate DNA repair.