Vitamin B12 may reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease

November, 2010

A long-running study adds to the evidence that high levels of homocysteine increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, and higher levels of vitamin B12 help to bring down these levels and reduce risk.

A seven-year study involving 271 Finns aged 65-79 has revealed that increases in the level of homocysteine in the blood were associated with increasing risk of developing Alzheimer’s (each micromolar increase in the concentration of homocysteine increased the risk of Alzheimer's by 16%), while increases in the level of vitamin B12 decreased the risk (each picomolar increase in concentration of B12 reduced risk by 2%). A larger study is needed to confirm this. 17 people (6%) developed Alzheimer’s over the course of the study.

Still, these results are consistent with a number of other studies showing greater risk with higher homocysteine and lower B12. High levels of vitamin B12 are known to lower homocysteine. However, studies directly assessing the effects of B12 supplements have had mixed results. Low levels of B12 are common in the elderly.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-10/aaon-vbm101210.php

Reference: 

[1918] Hooshmand, B., Solomon A., Kåreholt I., Leiviskä J., Rusanen M., Ahtiluoto S., et al.
(2010).  Homocysteine and holotranscobalamin and the risk of Alzheimer disease.
Neurology. 75(16), 1408 - 1414.

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