Vitamin B12 might battle Alzheimer's, claims research

Vitamin B12 may really decrease the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s illness, reports BBC News Health. A study published most recently in Neurology of 271 65- to 79-year-old Finnish individuals conducted over the course of seven years found that lower levels of vitamin B12 in the blood could possibly be connected to instances of senior dementia. None of those surveyed had dementia at the time the study commenced. Thorough screening for dementia was performed before the analysis had been undertaken. Yet many experts at this early stage point out that vitamin B12 health supplements shouldn’t be considered cure-all pills for dementia before additional tests can ascertain the veracity of the claim.

How the B12-homocysteine vitamin connects

Fortified cereals have Vitamin B12 in it which is also found in most meat, fish, eggs and milk. Scientists have found that Alzheimer’s is linked to B vitamins and also the body chemical homocysteine. Presence of homocysteine is believed to raise the risk of strokes and dementia. Increasing the amount of vitamin B12 in the blood is known to lower homocysteine amounts and slow brain shrinkage, a condition associated with Alzheimer’s ailment

Before the investigation was over, numerous got Alzheimer’s

After just seven years, 17 of the 271 study respondents had Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found that vitamin B12 deficiency and increased homocysteine levels were common elements among those afflicted, while those with the highest amounts of B12 tended to be healthier mentally. According to Helga Refsum of the university of Oslo who spoke with BBC, despite the fact that the Alzheimer’s example was “relatively small, (this study) ought to act as one more incentive to start a large scale trial with homocysteine-lowering therapy using B vitamins.”

STEP could be utilized

Alzheimer’s Research Trust CEO Rebecca Wood had been more willing to recommend balanced diet, exercise and keeping cholesterol and blood pressure in check as the best path toward avoiding Alzheimer’s disease. Vitamin B12 could help too. We’ll discover this after more trials though. In the meantime, scientists might want to attempt human trials with treatments that lower a protein called “STEP” that induces Alzheimer’s disease-like conditions in mice. It is at the moment unknown whether such treatments would be viable on human beings.

Citations

BBC

bbc.co.uk/news/health-11569602