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Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements for Seniors
Senior Citizens May Lower Alzheimer's Risk with More
Folate Intake
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Rich sources of folate include
leafy greens, dried beans and peas, fortified cereals and grain
products, and some fruits and vegetables.
USDA Photo by Peggy Greb |
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Combination of dietary folate with supplements
appears to work
January 9, 2007 - Senior citizens and younger
adults who take in higher levels of
the nutrient folate through both diet and supplements may have a reduced
risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according to a report in the
January issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.
By the year 2047, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s
disease is expected to quadruple, according to background information in
the article. Delaying the onset of this neurodegenerative disease would
significantly reduce the burden it causes.
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Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements
or Alzheimer's & Dementia |
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Researchers suspect that
elevated levels of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood, which is
linked to a higher risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke, may also
increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
Folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, are important
in the body’s processing of homocysteine—therefore, deficiencies in
these nutrients increase homocysteine levels and may contribute to
cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia.
José A. Luchsinger, M.D., Columbia University
Medical Center, New York, and colleagues examined, interviewed and
assessed the diets of 965 individuals without dementia between 1992 and
1994 and then followed them for an average of 6.1 years to see if they
developed Alzheimer’s disease. The participants had an average age of
75.8 and 70.2 percent were women, 32.6 percent African-American, 45.3
percent Hispanic and 22.1 percent white.
During the follow-up period, 192 of the
participants developed Alzheimer’s disease. When the individuals were
divided into four groups based on the total level of folate they took in
through food and supplements and the analysis was adjusted for patient
characteristics, comorbid diseases and B12 and B6 intake, the risk of
Alzheimer’s disease was lower in the groups with higher intake.
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Depressed? "B" Sure to Get
Enough Folate
By Rosalie Marion Bliss, USDA, Agricultural
Research Service
April 7, 2004 - Evidence is mounting of a
connection between various stages of depression and low blood
levels of the B vitamin folate, according to research funded by
the
Agricultural Research Service.
Epidemiologist Martha Savaria Morris and
colleagues studied data based on a questionnaire given to 3,000
people aged 15 to 39 years. The data showed that individuals
with either major or mild forms of depression had lower blood
levels of folate than did those who had never been depressed.
The researchers noted that low folate
levels are known to be common in psychiatric patients and may
hamper the effectiveness of antidepressant therapy. |
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Neither dietary folate nor supplements alone were
significantly linked to Alzheimer’s disease risk; only the two in
combination appeared to produce an effect. Levels of the vitamins B12
and B6 were not associated with Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Higher folate intake was modestly correlated with
lower homocysteine levels, “indirectly suggesting that a lower
homocysteine level is a potential mechanism for the association between
higher folate intake and a lower Alzheimer’s disease risk,” the authors
write.
Definitive conclusions about the role of folate in
the development of Alzheimer’s disease cannot yet be made, they
continue. The findings of this study are in contrast to those of some
other research, and other compounds (such as hormones) perceived to
reduce the risk for dementia in observational studies did not do so in
randomized trials. “Thus, the decision to increase folate intake to
prevent Alzheimer’s disease should await clinical trials,” they
conclude.
Editor's Note: This study was supported by grants
from the National Institutes of Health; a grant from the Charles S.
Robertson Memorial Gift for research on Alzheimer’s disease; the
Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Foundation; and the New York City Council
Speaker’s Fund for Public Health Research.
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