Vitamin B Can Slow Alzheimer’s and Dementia

New research shows that, high doses of vitamin B can slow Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. It has a bigger effect than we might anticipate, says a Professor who led the study.

The group included 168 elderly people suffering from the preliminary stage of dementia and Alzheimer’s, that is, memory loss and language problems that can not be explained solely by age.

High levels of vitamin B

Half of the members of the group received tablets with a very high content of vitamins B6 and B12. The others got placebo. After two years, doctors measured the test subjects’ brains to see how much they had shrunk.

A normal brain shrinks 0,5 percent per year after the age of 60. A brain that has begun to show the first signs of dementia or deterioration is shrinking twice as fast.

But the researchers discovered that for those fed supplements with vitamin B, the brain’s decline slowed down by 30 percent, in some cases up to 50 percent.

Protects the brain

The cause is believed to be that some vitamin B’s can control homocysteine, an amino acid, found in the blood. A high concentration of homocysteine is suspected be associated with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Too much homocysteine may therefore cause a brain to shrink rapidly.

Treatment with vitamin B, which was given in much higher doses than the recommended daily intake, was found to be above expectations.

There is a greater power than we might anticipate. These vitamins do something with the brain structure – they protect it and it’s important because we need to protect the brain to prevent Alzheimer’s.

More research is needed

Although professors are happy with the outcome, more research is now needed and is backed by The Alzheimer’s Research Trust, which is will pay for the study.

Chris Kennard from the University of Oxford who is also Chairman of a Medical Research Committee (Medical Research Council’s Neurosciences and Mental Health Board) says: “We must be careful when we recommend supplements such as vitamin B because there are other health risks if taken in high doses. More research is needed before we can recommend it for neurodegenerative diseases.”