News
Beta-carotene contributes significantly to adequate vitamin A intake
3 January 2012
The recommended vitamin A intake in general cannot be reached by consuming preformed vitamin A alone, suggests a new review.
08 September 2014
Patients treated with vitamin D may experience a slower progression to more severe stages of Alzheimer’s disease, reports a new study from Argentina.
The observational study with 202 patients suffering from a mild stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) who were treated with memantine (drug for AD), acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and/or vitamin D3, measured the time of progression to moderate and severe disease status during a mean time of 4.5 years (1). The study results showed that the treatment with vitamin D affected the time of AD progression independently of the other factors analyzed, e.g., medications, cardiovascular risk factors and osteoporosis. Patients treated with vitamin D had slower AD progression and took one year longer to develop to a more severe stage compared to those not treated with vitamin D.
The researchers noted that vitamin D deficiency has been reported to increase the risk of developing AD, while maintaining sufficient vitamin D levels may reduce the number of plaques that develop with AD (2). Receptors for vitamin D in the brain have led researchers to become interested in how vitamin D affects the development and the management of AD. The disease, which develops slowly and gets worse over time, affects one in nine people older than 65 years old and is characterized by a loss of memory and changes in behavior. Many patients receive memantine, a drug specifically designed to treat AD, and acetylcholin-esterase (AChE) inhibitors, used to treat the symptoms of dementia in general.
3 January 2012
The recommended vitamin A intake in general cannot be reached by consuming preformed vitamin A alone, suggests a new review.
1 August 2012
Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids serve as indispensable structural components of cellular membranes and are important for normal brain and eye development. As a foetus’ intake of fatty acids is mainly dependent on the intake of the expectant mother, there has been growing concern that the low intake of omega-3 fatty acids in Western nations, particularly of DHA, may place infants at risk of deficiency during the critical early period of neurological development.
1 June 2010
There is overwhelming evidence which demonstrates that good nutrition and specific micronutrients can play a major role in maintaining and enhancing physical and mental performance at all life stages as well as delaying the onset of persistent (‘chronic’) diseases. However, there are many social, demographic, economic and lifestyle changes that determine our nutritional status, and for a variety of reasons many more people are not achieving the recommended intakes for specific essential micronutrients.