Relationships | 10/15/2008 10:36 am

Study: Vitamin B Does Not Slow Alzheimer's, May Boost Depression

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

New research delivers bad news about the so-called brain-boosting powers of vitamin B.

Past research has suggested that vitamin B may sharpen memory and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. The belief was that B vitamins could help reduce levels of homocysteine in the blood, which may, in turn, reduce the possibility of developing the mentally debilitating disease, according to Glenn Smith, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic neuropsychologist.

However, according to a new study published today, while vitamin B did lower homocysteine levels (which are amino acids in the blood), it did not sharpen the brain.

Researchers gave 409 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease high-dose supplements of vitamins B6, B12 and folate for 18 months. There was also a placebo group that did not receive the vitamin. When the scientists gave both groups cognitive skill exams to test their memory and language skills, they found that the B-vitamin group fared no better than the placebo subjects. Thus, they concluded that while vitamin B did lower homocysteine levels, it did not impact the patient’s cognitive deterioration.

"Prior studies using B vitamin supplementation to reduce homocysteine levels in patients with Alzheimer’s weren’t large enough, or of long enough duration to effectively assess their impact on cognitive decline," said Dr. Paul S. Aisen of the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, in a press release. "This study of several hundred individuals over the course of 18 months showed no impact on cognition, although it resulted in lower levels of homocysteine in these patients."

And the researchers also discovered something a bit surprising: the people who took the vitamin supplements were more likely to suffer from depression.

Alzheimer’s usually begins after age 60, and risk goes up with age. Scientists believe that as many as 4.5 million Americans suffer from the disease, according to the National Institute on Aging. It usually develops slowly as nerve cells and connections near the brain begin to deteriorate and die affecting memory and mental abilities.

The study was published in the October 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Associate. Click here to read more about the study.

Vitamin B Facts:

Folic Acid - Helps the body make healthy new cells. For women, it helps prevent major birth defects. It’s found in leafy green vegetables, peas, dried beans, nuts and certain enriched grains.

B 12 - Helps the body maintain healthy nerve cells and red blood cells. It’s found in fish, shellfish, meat and dairy products (eggs, milk, yogurt). Vegetarians, vegans and elderly are prone to vitamin B-12 deficiencies.

B 6 - Vital to make neurotransmitters and for myelin formation (which protect nerve connectors called axons). It’s found in cereal grains, legumes, vegetables (carrots, spinach, peas), potatoes, dairy, liver, meat and more.

More at wowOwow:

Study: Exercise May Help Reduce Alzheimer’s Symptoms

British Prime Minister’s Dementia Is Described in Daughter’s Memoir

Read more about: Aging, Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's Disease, exercise, Health, News, Nutrition, Vitamin B

11 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

I wonder if they controlled for exercise, sunlight, vitamin D and fish oil consumption. Those things have been shown in other studies to help control moderate depression. Since B vitamins flush out, it seems odd that getting the right amount would cause depression. The lesson is still: exercise, exercise, exercise. Every day. [Not more than your body can handle, but enough to make you feel like you are doing a leetle bit more than you did last week.] Pills will not make up for lack of exercise, no matter how great the vitamins are.

By Elizabeth Bennett on 10/15/2008 12:35 pm

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OMGOD people ! There is a Cure for all these things Naturally ! I just read and sent to my Dad …about CUCUMIN the Spice Tumeric …In the canadian News …about CURCUMIN ….it say American Pharm com SAID NO WAY CAN WE PUBLISH THIS ABOUT CURCUMIN IN THE UNITED STATES !!! My Dad had Prostrate CANCER … I gave him B vitamins and CURCUMIN …I did lots of Praying and ya know what my DAD is Cancer Free ….PROSTRATE CANCER he had …GOD helps thoe who help themselves …ya know …I do know …Curcumin takes away the Plaque in the Brain and Heart …Keeps Your Valves Clean ..and stops inflamation …Ya know in India there is hardly any Heart Disease or Alzhiemers ?????? A Indian Doctor told me that ….because of Curcumin … I give my Dad the Jarrow brand …I go to The Vitamin Shoppe …you can order on line …and I give him Q-10 by Nature Made …Dr Oz and another doctor tested all these vitamins and Nature Made is the Only One who Has the Actual Q-10 in it …Our bodies need Oxygen to kill off bad cancer cells …And then with me I take it ..it helps me go doo doo and it really helps me in PMS …My MOON Time is 75% better … and I hurt like a 16 yr old …I am 46 …I know when I dont take it …I can feel it … Science Daily . com has a bunch of articles and WHfoods . com ..tells what you can do naturally …Then I think I have colon cancer and I read about PURPLE CORN from PERU …A& M just did a study on Purple Corn and it healed colon cancer and made TUMORS almost go away …I searched for it …I begged Whole Foods for it …Then I found Global Fusion web site and bought some “Chicha Morada ” and some Purple corn pills … So far so good with me …but not 100% ..But at least I know I will not DIE as soon as I thought …I have Purple Corn …Please read about Natural Cures ..A&M is just One Study and its OnLINE !!! I found several more !! I am so excited to tell ya all about this stuff …maybe I can help someone ? Please read …everything …Did you know its against the Law for a Doctor to tell you about a Natural Cure ? It was the Pharm co’s doings ….How do you like that ? anyway here is something to read I pasted >This link between inflammation and the unchecked proliferation of cancer cells prompted Aggarwal to return to his roots. In 1989 he moved to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and began looking for compounds that might quell inflammation and have an anticancer effect. Remembering from his youth in India that turmeric was an anti-inflammatory in the Ayurvedic literature, he decided to give the spice a try. “We took some from the kitchen and threw it on some cells,” he remembers. “We couldn’t believe it. It completely blocked TNF and NF kappa B.” ———————————————————————————————————————— Can an ingredient in curry treat diseases from Alzheimer’s to cancer? ———————————————————————————————————————— Aggarwal has gone on to publish studies showing that blocking the NF kappa B pathway with curcumin inhibits the replication and spread of various types of cancer cells. This work has served as a jumping-off point for early, small clinical trials at M. D. Anderson using curcumin as an adjunct therapy to treat pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma. Trials are beginning or under way elsewhere for prevention of colon cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, among others. And early cell-based or animal studies have shown that curcumin may act against a range of inflammatory diseases, including pancreatitis, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, gastritis, allergy and fever. It has also shown some promise for diabetes and autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. So far the large clinical trials needed to prove efficacy against cancer and other diseases have yet to be conducted. But Aggarwal has nonetheless become an aggressive champion for a spice that Vasco da Gama brought back to Europe from his voyages eastward. Aggarwal’s chapter in a new textbook that he co-edited is entitled “Curcumin: The Indian Solid Gold.” Just do a search about Curcumin …and Purple Corn …I am mad @ Dr OZ …let down because he just went to Peru and He Never told about the Purple Corn Cure … when he came back on Oprah .. And lots of stuff he talks about I know about …and some things HE is Not Telling The PUBLIC and has OPRAH fooled big time ….He is pulling the WOOL over her eyes …and I have to think what I have been told SICK PEOPLE ARE BIG BUSINESS …and he has commented to OPRAH abo0ut How he LOVES to do her show ….for the MONEY Dr.Oz !!! You can fool some of the people some of the time But not all f the People all of the Time …I have your Number Dr Oz and you are a Fake and Phoney Bulloney ! ….and bought by the Pharm and Health Insurance companies ..I can see your soul and it stinks !

By Eliza Dodd on 10/15/2008 2:40 pm

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God Bless You Eliza!…I am looking into this tomorrow~ Thank You so much!…I’m so happy for you and your Dad!

By Bernadette Rocks on 10/15/2008 8:19 pm

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Oh Boy I love This Subject …..Natural Helpers …thats what i call them …all US women need those vitamins …Super B is the best and I take Liquid Super B’s …and they work ! I give my Dad CURCUMIN by Jarrow …it breaks up the PLAQUE in the Brain and Heart Valves and takes away INFLAMATION which causes Cancer …another cancer fighter is White Tea By STASH and TEMPE brand >White Tea Beats Green Tea In Fighting Germs ScienceDaily (May 28, 2004) — NEW ORLEANS – May 25, 2004 — New studies conducted at Pace University have indicated that White Tea Extract (WTE) may have prophylactic applications in retarding growth of bacteria that cause Staphylococcus infections, Streptococcus infections, pneumonia and dental caries. Researchers present their findings today at the 104th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. ———————————————————————————————————————— See also: Health & Medicine Immune System Alternative Medicine Nutrition Plants & Animals Virology Microbes and More Fungus Reference Health benefits of tea White tea Herbal tea Yeast “Past studies have shown that green tea stimulates the immune system to fight disease,” says Milton Schiffenbauer, Ph.D., a microbiologist and professor in the Department of Biology at Pace University’s Dyson College of Arts & Sciences and primary author of the research. “Our research shows White Tea Extract can actually destroy in vitro the organisms that cause disease. Study after study with tea extract proves that it has many healing properties. This is not an old wives tale, it’s a fact.” White tea was more effective than green tea at inactivating bacterial viruses. Results obtained with the bacterial virus, a model system; suggest that WTE may have an anti-viral effect on human pathogenic viruses. The addition of White Tea Extract to various toothpastes enhanced the anti-microbial effect of these oral agents. Studies have also indicated that WTE has an anti-fungal effect on Penicillium chrysogenum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the presence of WTE, Penicillium spores and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells were totally inactivated. It is suggested that WTE may have an anti-fungal effect on pathogenic fungi. Several findings in the new study are of particular interest: * The anti-viral and anti-bacterial effect of white tea (Stash and Templar brands) is greater than that of green tea. * The anti-viral and anti-bacterial effect of several toothpastes including Aim, Aquafresh, Colgate, Crest and Orajel was enhanced by the addition of white tea extract. * White tea extract exhibited an anti-fungal effect on both Penicillium chrysogenum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. * White tea extract may have application in the inactivation of pathogenic human microbes, i.e., bacteria, viruses, and fungi. ———————————————————————————————————————— White Tea Kills Mersa …..

By Eliza Dodd on 10/15/2008 2:54 pm

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GET OUT! White Tea kills mrsa??…How is that possible?…another eye opener

By Bernadette Rocks on 10/15/2008 8:21 pm

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YES MAME It DOES !!!! Isn’t that wonderful to know ???? Its on Science Daily …web site …you will have to do a search on it in the search box going back a few years ..The TV NEWS will Never TELL you this info ..Never they are owned by the Pharm co …even the story about Curcumin …They told the PRESS NO WAY JOSE !!! They couldnt tell it …Far too often, the agenda of the mainstream media is to distort the truth, and in doing so, intentionally mislead readers with harmful disinformation. A careful review of mainstream newspapers, magazines and news websites reveals a clear, intentional pattern of news distortion that just happens to benefit the drug companies that fund so much of their advertising……now ya see ? In Canada it is common knowledge because their GOV lets them do natural cures ….Thats why I WANT UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE !NOW ! What happened to me is proof …I got HBV and almost died …25,000 people in the USA DIE each year from it ..I have a HELL of a immune system the DUKE Dr. told me and so did the HEP Foundation in New York ,,,I turned YELLOW even my scalp I was refused @ the COUNTY emergency room and I had PERFECT CREDIT …they run your SS# ….and anyway it was because the workmans comp gave me steriods trying to KILL ME the DUKE Dr said so …because I never failed a drug test and I didnt know thye were drug testing me …The Steriods blew up my liver …And I did a gall stone flush …Passed 10 pounds of stones and I irradicated my HBV …The DUKE Dr was so excited and he got my X Rays and looked from the County and he asked me what I did ? I told him and as I was leaving he was online with his assistant and was banging his clip board on the counter and was very HAPPY …I mad his day …He is a Forensic science-tist ..and everything else he won the Erwin Brody award at Duke …for a natural cure paper he did …Well after that I told a few people befoe ya know it I am in Business with natural cures …And I could of gotten paid if only this GOV would go UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE like France and the Swiss and Canada and the rest of the world ..I cured several people from Hep Viruses …One was a Art teacher with HBC and was very sick …very she did the gall stone flush and she also irradicated it and about 10 other people some with HBV like me …And now I am trying to figure out why I keep making stones …I had to stopp the curcumin for awhile because I am past due for another flush ..If you read about curcumin you will see why …and then I can start again ….Curcumin also inhibits HIV and so does Sprunilla …What ever kind of sickness you have you can 99% find a cure …if you need to find something out dont hesitate to ask me I will help you find it …I love this stuff ….and I LOVE making people better …anyone …

By Eliza Dodd on 10/16/2008 9:21 am

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The part about the B vitamins contributing to depression is depressing to me. Back in the 70’s my Dr. told me to take B vitamins to help fight depression. It didn’t work and now I know why.

By Sherrie Crews on 10/16/2008 10:14 am

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Sherrie, they were telling all of us that in the seventies. I never felt better or worse with B vitamins, though I took them faithfully. They were also supposed to be a panacea for stress. I wonder how many other things the experts will get wrong before they get it right? Time to watch Sleeper again. That film was prescient.

By Elizabeth Bennett on 10/16/2008 4:44 pm

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O.K. here goes. 2 1/2 years ago my autoimmune system made a HUGE mistake, and demyelinated my nerves. A very rare condition called Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP). I went undiagnosed for several months, and then misdiagnosed for a period, and then improoperly treated for several months. I ended up in a nursing home ar 53 yrs old, and so weak, that I couldn’t raise my legs more than 6”. I finally saw another neurologist, who got things turned around, and I have been steadily recovering, but it’s a VERY SLOW process. The myelin only grows back at about 1” a month, and I was numb up to my hips, in front just under my breasts, my face, up to my eyebrows,(couldn’t raise an eyebrow, smile, and slurred when I talked), and my arms above my elbows to the end of my finger tips. After nearly 2 years of IVIG, and constant PT, I am starting to walk on a cane, and plan to be walking normally by next summer, but will likely need footbraces for a while beyond that, because of the footdrop due to the nerve conduction, and muscle recovery in my ankles and feet. My hands are still very weak, and shaky. I have to handle the utinsils like a lumberjack when I eat(no offense, it’s only an expression). I mainly have only gross grasp using my 4 fingers, very little use of my thumb. I believe there is something out there that will help naturally grow the myelin more quickly, but haven’t found it yet. Can you help?

By Bonnie Lopez on 10/16/2008 6:47 pm