Low Chromium Levels May Raise Heart Attack Risk
 (NY, Reuters Health, 7/21/05)

Dr. Eliseo Guallar of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research in Baltimore, and team, assessed chromium levels in the toe nails of 684 men who had experienced heart attacks and a comparable number who had not. The investigators found that the levels of chromium, a mineral involved in carbohydrate and fat metabolism, tended to be lower with advancing age and hypertension. They also noted that the chromium levels of heart attack patients were about 13% lower than those of comparison subjects and that men with the lowest levels had a 35 % greater risk of heart attack than those with the highest. These findings suggest that chromium intake may reduce the risk of heart attack.

(American Journal of Epidemiology, July 15, 2005)