B Vitamins Found to Drastically Slow Cognitive Impairment in Elderly
September 9th, 2010Via: Reuters:
Daily tablets of large doses of B vitamins can halve the rate of brain shrinkage in elderly people with memory problems and may slow their progression toward dementia, data from a British trial showed on Wednesday,
Scientists from Oxford University said their two-year clinical trial was the largest to date into the effect of B vitamins on so-called “mild cognitive impairment” — a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Experts commenting on the findings said they were important and called for larger, longer full-scale clinical trials to see if the safety and effectiveness of B vitamins in the prevention of neurodegenerative conditions could be confirmed.
“This is a very dramatic and striking result. It’s much more than we could have predicted,” said David Smith of Oxford’s department of pharmacology, who co-led the trial.
“It is our hope that this simple and safe treatment will delay development of Alzheimer’s in many people who suffer from mild memory problems.”
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) affects around 16 percent of people aged over 70 worldwide and is characterized by slight problems with memory loss, language or other mental functions.
MCI does not usually interfere with daily life, but around 50 percent of people diagnosed with it go on to develop the far more severe Alzheimer’s disease within five years. Alzheimer’s is a mind-wasting disease for which there are few treatments and no cure, and which affects 26 million people around the world.
Smith and colleagues conducted a two-year trial with 168 volunteers with MCI who were given either a vitamin pill containing very high doses of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12, or a placebo dummy pill.
These B vitamins are known to control levels of an amino acid called homocysteine in the blood, and high blood levels of homocysteine are linked to an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Helga Refsum, who also worked on the trial, stressed that vitamins were given in extremely high doses.
“This is a drug, not a vitamin intervention,” she said.
The pills, called “TrioBe Plus” contained around 300 times the recommended daily intake of B12, four times daily advised folate levels and 15 times the recommended amount of B6.
Brain scans were taken at the beginning and the end of the trial to monitor the rate of brain shrinkage, or atrophy.
Like vitamin D3 levels, I think forward looking persons worldwide who want to maintain their health for the long road should increase their intake of vitamin B(especially B12). It’s not just the over 70’s crowd that would benefit from this. Its the readily available food (yes the stuff you have to eat when traviling or eat when you are to lazy to care), the chemicals in the atmosphere, all the crap that is working to degrade the experience of life in the human body, which could be put on a low burner and increase the enjoyment of life by increased intake of the B’s.
I will probably be beating myself up for the rest of my life because I didn’t “stop” my mother from dying at the ripe old age of 93. Yes, I know, that is perverse. Am starting to throw things away that are past their “use by date.” Wish I had learned about B12 especially long ago.
Bought a bottle of liquid B12 at GNC (ugh) at the airport last week because I was stressed and my hair had turned another shade of white overnight.
Read on the bottle, “after taking the recommended dose,” that taken throughout the day, “this may enhance dream activity”. No shit.
Won’t go into the details, but dreams, especially those you remember, are a sign of brain activity.
Can’t recommend enhanced intake of B vitamin (especially 12) enough. Just carefully. Yoi. There are only so many dreams one can process in a day.
B12 is also supposed to be good for digestion, but that’s never been a problem of mine. So I can’t say.
But keeping the head buzzing, without the intake of caffeine, or with it, has been a “notable” experience. Definitely clears the cobwebs out. Recommend a high liquid or sublingual potion. Cheers, and here’s to your buzz.