Vitamin B may help to halt memory loss

Recent ground-breaking research from the University of Oxford has suggested that a daily Vitamin B supplement could help to reduce brain shrinkage, which is linked to memory loss, by up to 500%. The B vitamins that were used in this research were Vitamin B6, B9 (also known as Folic Acid) and B12. The B Vitamins are usually taken because of their benefits on maintaining overall health and well-being, as well as other benefits such as maintaining normal blood formation. All the B vitamins are water-soluble which means that they can not be stored in the body, which makes supplementation vital if you want to feel the benefits associated with these vitamins.

The Oxford University researchers who undertook the study on the B Vitamins effects on memory loss, have even called the findings a ‘glimmer of hope’ in the battle to find a drug that may help to slow down, or even stop, the development of Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia affect the lives of approximately 800, 000 people in Britain alone, and the number of new cases is set to double within a generation. Every day in the UK, there are around 500 new cases of Alzheimer’s confirmed, and as no previous drug trials have been successful, anything that could help to slow down the development of the disease could help to improve the lives of millions of people.

The breakthrough centred on the compound homocysteine, which is an amino acid found in the blood and so naturally produced in the body, which at high levels, has been linked to memory loss and Alzheimer’s. Vitamin B is known to help in the breakdown of homocysteine, so the researchers decided to look into the effects that B vitamins had on the memory. The researchers recruited 270 pensioners who suffer from slight memory lapses that can be a pre-cursor to dementia to take part in the study. Known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), it affects one in six people aged over 70, which amounts to 1.5 million Britons. The worrying statistics are that half the people who suffer with MCI are likely to develop a form of dementia within five years of diagnosis.

The participants in the study took a daily vitamin B tablet for two years, which contained high doses of vitamin B6, 9 and 12. Brain scans were carried out on the participants to see if the vitamin had helped to cut brain shrinkage, which is something that naturally occurs as we age and also helps to speed up memory loss. The trial found that on average, vitamin B cut the shrinkage by 30% but that in some extreme cases it cut it by half. Those with the slowest rate of shrinkage found that they could perform better in memory tests and could also recall lists better than they could before. Therefore, this research has given hope that vitamin B may help to maintain a good memory and help to slow down the development of age-related memory problems, which in turn gives hope to people who may be at the risk of developing dementia.

Why not also try...