Vitamin B12 may help to prevent brain volume loss

Eating a diet rich in vitamin B12 may help to prevent brain volume loss, and possibly dementia, suggest results of a new study.

Researchers from the University of Oxford's Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA) found that seniors who had lower-than-average blood levels of vitamin B12 – but did not have a vitamin B12 deficiency – were roughly six times more likely to have brain volume , which is associated with an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, than those with the highest levels of vitamin B12.

The findings led the authors to conclude: “Low vitamin B12 status should be further investigated as a modifiable cause of brain atrophy and of likely subsequent cognitive impairment in the elderly.”

In a press release issued by the University of Oxford, study author Anna Vogiatzoglou of the Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics said: ‘Many factors that affect brain health are thought to be out of our control, but this study suggests that simply adjusting our diets to consume more vitamin B12 through eating meat, fish, fortified cereals or milk may be something we can easily adjust to prevent brain shrinkage and so perhaps save our memory.”

Vogiatzoglou A, Refsum H, Johnston C, Smith SM, Bradley KM, de Jager C, Budge MM, Smith AD. Vitamin B12 status and rate of brain volume loss in community-dwelling elderly. Neurology 2008;71:826 - 832.

News release: Vitamin B12 may protect brain in old age. University of Oxford website. 5th September 2008.