Isoflavone Supplement Benefits Stroke Patients

A new study published in European Heart Journal (doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehn409) reports that isoflavones– compounds naturally found in soybeans, chickpeas, legumes and clovers, but also available as a dietary supplement– may help prevent cardiovascular disease among stroke patients by enhancing the functioning of the arteries, specifically, the flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery (main artery in the arm).

[The researchers] found that 12 weeks of isoflavone supplement, at a dose of 80 mg a day, significantly improved brachial FMD and, therefore, vascular endothelial dysfunction in patients who had suffered an ischaemic stroke (a stroke caused by blood clots or other obstructions).

The researchers also found that 12 weeks of isoflavone treatment resulted in a significant decrease in levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. This protein increases during systemic inflammation and is an independent predictor of cardiovascular-related events. “These findings suggested that isoflavone treatment alleviated vascular inflammatory stress and was an important component that mediated the reversal of endothelial dysfunction in this group of patients,” wrote the authors.

“These findings may have important implications for the use of isoflavone for secondary prevention in patients with cardiovascular disease, on top of conventional treatments,” the authors wrote in their EHJ paper.

These data are based from a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, involving 50 patients taking the isoflavone supplement, and 52 taking a placebo pill.