Evaluation of the relationship between vitamin B12 levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease, a cross-sectional study

Aim: Today, there are studies to identify new risk factors for cardiovascular diseases apart from the known risk factors. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between cardiovascular disease risk groups and serum vitamin B12 levels. Method: In our cross-sectional descriptive study, we included individuals aged 40-70 years who applied to the Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine Family Medicine Polyclinic for any reason, who had the necessary data to calculate the SCORE (Systemic Coronary Risk Evaluation) score and who had serum vitamin B12 values. We started to include people in the study by scanning the archives as of 31 December 2020. For risk categories calculated using the SCORE cardiovascular disease risk assessment model, we continued collecting data until there were 32 individuals in each of the four risk groups. We compared each risk group in terms of serum vitamin B 12 levels and factors that may affect the relationship. Results: The median age of 128 people in the study was 50 (40-69) years (min.-max.), and we found a statistically significant difference between the median vitamin B12 values according to cardiovascular disease risk groups (p=0.036). This difference was between low 183 (87-587) and high 241 (123-660) risk groups (p=0.010); between moderate 193 (89-370) and high risk group (p=0.029); and the high to very high 183 (108-1134) risk group (p=0.020). Conclusion: While evaluating the risk of cardiovascular disease in family medicine, the presence of additional parameters that strengthen our hands other than SCORE will provide convenience in practice. In our study, when we compared the low and medium risk group with the high-risk group, the median vitamin B12 level was high in the high-risk group; when we compared the high and very high-risk groups, the median vitamin B12 level was found to be lower in the very high-risk group compared to the high-risk group. Further studies are needed to examine this relationship.