Does Vitamin B prevent Alzheimer's?
Claims vitamin B prevents Alzheimer's are unproven. B vitamins have been in the news for a while now in relation to helping prevent memory loss and maybe even possibly dementia. I was asked by a customer in conversation if I thought they worked – well my answer was simply that I had no idea as I was no medical professional. However, curiosity got the better of me (as per usual) so I looked a little more at this area. One of the studies via: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/08August/Documents/Alzheimer%27s%20in%20the%20press.pdf looked at 271 elderly people who were all suffering with mild memory problems, but not dementia, and all who took a daily high-dose vitamin B complex (with folic acid, B6 and B12) over a 2 year period. Those taking the daily high-dose vitamin B complex supplement had on average 30% slower brain shrinkage in areas associated with Alzheimer’s disease than those just taking a placebo. This is probably because B vitamins are thought to lower levels of homocysteine. To find out more about Homocysteine, please click on: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/homocysteine-risk Homocysteine is an amino acid also linked to heart disease. According to NHS UK’s Behind the Headlines report: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/05may/pages/claims-vitamin-b-prevents-alzheimers-are-unproven.aspx there is no positive proof of taking Vitamin B but the results do show to be promising.