Low Levels of Vitamin B12 linked to Alzheimer’s

More recent research, this time coming from Finland, has suggested that low levels of Vitamin B12 may be linked to a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. A study involving 271 Finns, which was published in the Neurology journal, found that people with the highest levels of Vitamin B12 were the least likely to develop Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

Vitamin B12 is mainly found in meat, fish, eggs, milk and some fortified cereals and is thought to be necessary for normal cell division, as well as now being linked to helping the neurological system. Scientists have long known that a chemical called homocysteine, which is produced naturally in the body, can increase the risk of dementia. Scientists are now starting to believe that having high amounts of Vitamin B12 in the blood may help to lower the levels of homocysteine, and so may help in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

This research adds further support to the recent claims made by researchers at Oxford University who claimed that a daily dosage of B Vitamins may help to slow down memory loss, as they found that brain shrinkage, which is associated with dementia, was reduced in older people when taking high doses of B vitamins, including B12.

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