14 DAY TRIAL // A new study carried out by researchers at Oxford University, has shown that daily doses of certain vitamins B can cut down to half the brain shrinkage rate, in elderly people that have mild memory problems.
It was already known that folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12, control amino acid homocysteine levels in the blood, and because high levels of homocysteine are linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's, scientists thought that supplements of the B vitamins that lower homocysteine could slow down the rate of brain shrinkage.
The survey followed 168 volunteers aged 70 and over, with moderate memory problems, of which half took high dose vitamin B tablets for a two-year period and the other half took placebo pills.
The team used MRI scans to measure brain atrophy over this two-year period, and found that, on average, the brains of subjects taking folic acid, vitamin B6 and B12, shrank at a rate of 0.76% a year, while others had a shrinkage rate of 1.08%.
People that had the higher levels of homocysteine had the biggest benefits, their atrophy rates being half of the rates of patients on placebo.
Besides the brain shrinkage tests, the scientists from the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA), also monitored cognitive test scores, and concluded that those with slower shrinkage rates scored higher than the others.
This research is very important for an aging society, as 1 in 6 elderly people over 70 has a mild cognitive impairment that causes memory problems, language difficulties and other inconveniences without seriously interfering with daily life.
Also, half of the people with mild cognitive impairment develop dementia and Alzheimer's disease mainly, within the five years from diagnosis.
Professor David Smith of the Department of Pharmacology at Oxford University, and co-leader of the trial said that researchers “hope that this simple and safe treatment will delay the development of Alzheimer's disease in many people who suffer from mild memory problems.”
“Today there are about 1.5 million elderly in UK, 5 million in USA and 14 million in Europe with such memory problems.
“These are immensely promising results but we do need to do more trials to conclude whether these particular B vitamins can slow or prevent development of Alzheimer's.
“So I wouldn't yet recommend that anyone getting a bit older and beginning to be worried about memory lapses should rush out and buy vitamin B supplements without seeing a doctor,” he added.
Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, and co-founder of the study, said that “these are very important results, with B vitamins now showing a prospect of protecting some people from Alzheimer's in old age.
“The strong findings must inspire an expanded trial to follow people expected to develop Alzheimer's, and we hope for further success.
“We desperately need to support research into dementia, to help avoid the massive increases of people living with the condition as the population ages.
“Research is the only answer to what remains the greatest medical challenge of our time, she added.
This two-year randomized clinical trial is the biggest study on the effect of vitamin B on mild cognitive impairment, one of the few trials within the Alzheimer's field to actually have positive results in people, Science Daily reports.