A study published today in Neurology by researchers from Karolinska Institute in Sweden indicates that subjects who consume higher amounts of Vitamin B12 may be better protected from the development of Alzheimer's disease. The researchers followed 271 patients aged 65 to 79, none of which had dementia at the start of the study, for 7 years. 17 of them developed Alzheimer's disease over the duration of the study. After correcting for gender, weight, blood pressure, age, smoking habits, and educations, the study concluded that higher vitamin B12 concentration in the patient's blood was correlated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. The study also found that higher concentrations of the amino-acid homocysteine was associated with a higher likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease.
Both the authors of the study and specialists commenting on it agreed on the fact that the study was small, preliminary, and by no means definitive. Previous studies on the links between Vitamin B12 and Alzheimer's diseased have had mixed results.
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