Arterial-Health Concerns Could Get Consumers Taking Supplements, Survey Indicates

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A new survey on 380 consumers indicates that a significant percentage are interested in maintaining arterial health. Up to 35% of those surveyed said they were very concerned that hardening of arteries would negatively impact their heart health, while 67% said they would take a supplement to reduce the chances of arteries hardening. They said they would do this if the supplement had no side effects and was cost-comparable with other heart-health supplements.

Discovery Research Group conducted the survey in October 2015 on behalf of NattoPharma USA Inc. (Metuchen, NJ), a supplier of vitamin K2 MK7 ingredients. Last year, the company announced the first study (three-year; 244 subjects) showing that supplementing with NattoPharma’s MenaQ7 ingredient improved arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women. 

In the recent survey, 25% of respondents identified themselves as having a condition associated with heart disease, while 40% had someone in their immediate family with a condition associated with heart disease; of those (the survey respondents or their family members), 84% were currently taking a prescription medicine and 44% took a supplement. Also, among 30- to 40-year-olds surveyed, supplementation was named the number-one action respondents would take if they developed a heart disease. Overall, on a scale of 1–7, 62% of survey respondents rated their level of concern about heart health overall as 5 or greater.

“Just over one-third of survey participants ranked ‘hardening of arteries’ as one of the top-three risk factors associated with heart disease,” said Eric Anderson, senior vice president of global sales and marketing, NattoPharma, in a press release announcing the results. He added that MenaQ7 “not only protects against age-related hardening of the arteries and regressed arterial stiffening, but it also has been shown to improve bone mineral density and strength.”

Jennifer Grebow
Editor-in-Chief
Nutritional Outlook magazine
jennifer.grebow@ubm.com