Vitamin B Alzheimer’s: New Study Shows Dementia Can Be Slowed Down By Supplements

Such a simple answer to such a complex disease. Who would've thought that consuming vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid can help you slow down Alzheimer's?

You must be wondering, how? It's easy. Those vitamins can lower levels of homocysteine, an amino acid linked to shrinkage of the brain.

This has been reinforced by a research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and showed that people in a trial to test whether high doses of several B vitamins could protect ageing memory, who, in fact, got the B vitamins instead of a placebo pill, were almost entirely protected from the brain shrinkage.

A rapidly shrinking brain is one of the signs of a raised risk for Alzheimer's. Those taking the B vitamins had 90 per cent less shrinkage in their brains, protecting the areas that manage how we learn, remember and organize our thoughts, typically destroyed by the disease.

The study was run for two years by OPTIMA (Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing) at Oxford University, and involved 271 people with early signs of a fading memory, known as mild cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to Alzheimer's.

Researchers gave the participants standard memory and cognitive tests, and scanned some of the volunteers' brains at the beginning and end of the study to see if there was any effect on the rate the brains were shrinking.

"Our work shows that a key part of the disease process that leads to Alzheimer's disease, the atrophy of specific brain regions, might be modified by a safe and simple intervention," said Dr. David Smith, who led the study.

Experts still recommend staying healthy by having a balanced diet and exercising regularly rather than taking supplements.

"It is too early to know whether these effects mean someone is less likely to develop dementia in the long term. It is also not clear from other research in this area whether B vitamins would have any benefit for those who already have dementia," added Dr. Eric Karran, Director of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK.

"Until further trials have confirmed these findings, we would recommend people think about eating a healthy and balanced diet. Controlling weight and blood pressure, as well as taking exercise, are also ways that we can help to keep our brains healthy as we get older."