News
Insufficient vitamin E intakes may increase hip fracture risk
1 September 2014
According to a new study from Norway, older people with low blood vitamin E concentrations seem to have an increased risk of developing hip fracture.
07 June 2013
Increased intakes of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 seem to prevent shrinkage (atrophy) of key brain regions related to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease in patients with increased dementia risk, reports a new study from UK.
In the randomized controlled trial, blood homocysteine concentration and volume of gray matter brain regions were measured in 156 elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment receiving daily doses of
B vitamins (0.8 mg folic acid, 0.5 mg vitamin B12 plus 20 mg vitamin B6) or placebo for two years (1).
The study results showed that the participants treated with B vitamins had significantly lower plasma homo-cysteine levels (by 29%) and a marked reduction (seven-fold) of gray matter shrinkage when compared to the placebo group. The beneficial effect of B vitamins was confined to participants with high homocysteine levels (above the median of 11 micromoles per liter) at the beginning of the study.
The researchers concluded that high-dose B vitamin supplementation can slow the atrophy (shrinkage caused by cell loss) of specific brain regions, which is a key component in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Further trials should focus on elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment and high homocysteine levels to see if progression to dementia can be prevented by B vitamin treatment. The results indicate that
B vitamins lower concentrations of homocysteine, which leads directly to a decrease in brain (gray matter) atrophy, thereby slowing cognitive decline, the scientists noted.
Many prospective studies have shown that high levels of plasma total homocysteine are associated with cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia (2), but randomized controlled trials using
B vitamin supplementation as homocysteine-lowering treatment have shown inconsistent results on cognitive function (3). Factors such as dosage, vitamin combination, duration of treatment and the population treated possibly account for some of the discrepancies (4).
1 September 2014
According to a new study from Norway, older people with low blood vitamin E concentrations seem to have an increased risk of developing hip fracture.
1 April 2012
Malnutrition develops when the body does not get the amount of energy, protein, vitamins and other nutrients it needs to maintain health and normal organ function.
1 February 2016
Professor Kathryn Dewey of the Nutrition Department of the University of California, Davis, was the principal investigator of a cluster-randomized controlled effectiveness trial in Bangladesh which demonstrated that a small, lipid-based micronutrient supplement could help reduce stunting in newborn babies.