What happens when homocysteine levels are high?
This condition is called homocysteinemia. Homocysteine is an amino acid that the body produces by breaking down dietary proteins. Having high levels of homocysteine can damage blood vessels and lead to blood clots. People who have high homocysteine levels tend to have low levels of vitamin B12.
What does high homocysteine indicate?
If your results show high homocysteine levels, it may mean: You are not getting enough vitamin B12, B6, or folic acid in your diet. You are at a higher risk of heart disease. Homocystinuria. If high levels of homocysteine are found, more testing will be needed to rule out or confirm a diagnosis.
What are the symptoms of high homocysteine?
Elevated homocysteine symptoms
- pale skin.
- weakness.
- fatigue.
- tingling sensations (like pins and needles) in the hands, arms, legs, or feet.
- dizziness.
- mouth sores.
- mood changes.
What causes homocysteine to rise?
Many factors are thought to raise levels of homocysteine; among them are poor diet, poor lifestyle especially smoking and high coffee and alcohol intake, some prescription drugs, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and poor thyroid function.
What diagnosis covers homocysteine?
Homocysteine levels will be covered by Medicare to confirm Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency.
Does insurance cover homocysteine levels?
Serum homocysteine levels will not be covered other than suspected B12/folate deficiency, or for risk stratification for the conditions noted in the covered ICD-10 diagnosis section of this LCD. It is covered only once in a lifetime for the initial determination, for risk stratification.
What is hyperhomocysteinemia?
Hyperhomocysteinemia refers to the condition where there is greater than 15 micromol/L of homocysteine in the blood. This condition is present in a wide range of diseases, and in many cases, it is an independent risk factor for more serious medical conditions.
What causes elevated homocysteine?
Most commonly, an inadequate intake of B vitamins in combination with genetic factors can affect the body’s absorption and use of folic acid, which causes homocysteine levels to spike. Some other causes of elevated homocysteine levels include both stress and coffee consumption.
What does elevated homocysteine mean?
Elevated Homocysteine. What Is Elevated Homocysteine? Homocysteine is an amino acid and breakdown product of protein metabolism that, when present in high concentrations, has been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Elevated homocysteine levels are thought to contribute to plaque formation by damaging arterial walls.
Why would homocysteine be high?
High homocysteine levels may be caused by a deficiency of folic acid or B vitamins in the diet, kidney disease, hypothyroidism, psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or medications such as methotrexate or phenytoin. Genetic variants may also cause hyperhomocystinemia.
What does low homocysteine mean?
So low homocysteine may be a sign of oxidative stress.Formation of more cysteine from homocysteine would then deplete the homocysteine pool to support the formation of GSH to combat the free radicals.