Alzheimer's vitamin B can help prevent dementia

Vitamin B could stem Alzheimer's disease: New studies show that senile dementia could be reduced by taking vitamin B on a daily basis.

(10.09.2010) Around 37 million people worldwide suffer from dementia. In Germany, about 1.2 million people currently suffer from Alzheimer's. Dementia has far-reaching consequences for those affected. Thus, in senile dementia, short-term memory, thinking, language and motor skills are increasingly limited. In some forms, the personality structure is affected, so that the personality of the patients more and more changed. This burdens, above all, the social environment of the person affected. In most cases, dementia is triggered by a previous Alzheimer's disease. New studies conclude could be very simple, inexpensive and effectively limited by the daily administration of vitamin B senile dementia and even prevented. Scientists from the University of Oxford and researchers from Norway found in a study that daily intake of vitamin B in elderly patients can reduce brain wasting and thus prevent dementia. The results for this were presented in the science online magazine "PlosOne". However, the results would have to be confirmed with further investigations and studies.

Limitations of mental abilities is a natural aging process.
The changes and limitations of cognitive ability, according to scientists, are a normal and natural process of the human aging process. Depending on your genetic predisposition and personal lifestyle, the decline in mental capacities is different. Patients already showing signs of "mild cognitive impairment" (MCI) - a precursor to Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia - are showing greater progress in the development of memory lapses and problems in the speech system than in other people. According to research, a vitamin B therapy could help those affected who develop dementia relatively often and quickly.

Vitamin B slows down dementia symptoms.
A total of 168 subjects who were over 70 years of age participated in the study. All study participants already showed symptoms of MCI. Over a period of two years, some of the subjects received high doses of vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folic acid. The second part of the subjects got a non-effective placebo. The researchers were also surprised by the results: dementia symptoms slowed by an average of 30 percent among patients given vitamins for two years. In some cases even results compared to the control group of a whopping 53 percent could be achieved. "This is an extremely dramatic, dramatic result," argued David Smith of Oxford University. Now, the researchers hope that "this simple and safe treatment can slow the development of Alzheimer's disease in many people who suffer from mild cognitive impairment," says study leader Smith. Based on the results it can be assumed that the administered vitamins have a protective effect on the structure of the brain. This prevents Alzheimer's disease. Nevertheless, further analysis and studies would have to follow to confirm the protective effects of the vitamins.

No uncontrolled intake of vitamins.
However, the researchers warned the elderly to take high doses of vitamins on their own. After all, the study only lasted for a period of two years. Studies on long-term effects would still need to be investigated, as other studies have also shown that high doses of vitamins can also trigger cancer. Vitamin B occurs naturally in many foods, including fish, eggs, cheese, some varieties of green vegetables and meat.

Other studies also showed similar results. In a nutritional study, researchers from the New York Columbia University found that eating vegetables, fish and nuts can reduce Alzheimer's risk. These foods also contain a lot of vitamin B. (Sb)

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Image: Dieter Schütz