New Study Shows Vitamin B Does Not Slow Mental Decline for Patients with Alzheimer's

Vitamin B may be good for many things, but it won't slow mental decline as we age or prevent Alzheimer's disease. Scientists have taken a closer look at the effects of vitamin B and have found that it doesn't have any effect on better (or worse) cognitive function.

In order to examine the effects of vitamin B, the researchers assembled clinical trial data involving 22,000 people. More specifically, they looked at people taking vitamin B and compared them against those simply taking placebo. While those taking vitamin B did see a reduction in the levels of homocysteine in their blood by about a quarter, this didn't have any effect on their mental abilities.

"It would have been very nice to have found something different," said Robert Clarke of Oxford University who led the work, in a news release. "Our study draws a line under the debate: B vitamins don't reduce cognitive decline as we age. Taking folic acid and vitamin B-12 is sadly not going to prevent Alzheimer's disease."

Maternal folic acid intake before and during early pregnancy reduces a woman's risk of having a neural tube defect birth defect. Yet it doesn't appear that it has any benefit when it comes to cognitive decline.

"One in three people over the age of 65 will develop dementia and yet research funding lags behind other conditions and we haven't seen a new treatment made available in a decade," said James Pickett, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Society. "We need to see significantly more investment and recruit the next generation of leaders in research in order to deliver breakthroughs that could prove so vital to those affected by the condition."

The findings are published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.