Vitamins May Curb the Onset of Alzheimer's Disease

The medial temporal lobe is the area of the brain that atrophies to cause the cognitive decline characteristic of Alzheimer's Disease.  Gwenaelle Douaud, from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), and colleagues administered a combination of vitamin B12 (500 µg), vitamin B6 20 mg, and folic acid, or placebo, to 156 older men and women, for a two-year period. The researchers observed that the 80 subjects receiving B vitamins showed significantly less brain degeneration, as compared to the placebo group. Specifically, the plasma homocysteine levels were lowered by 29%. Submitting that: "Our results show that B-vitamin supplementation can slow the atrophy of specific brain regions that are a key component of the [Alzheimer's Disease] process and that are associated with cognitive decline," the study authors conclude that: "Further B-vitamin supplementation trials focusing on elderly subjects with high homocysteine levels are warranted to see if progression to dementia can be prevented."