If you’ve fallen down the dietary supplement rabbit hole, you might have read about the longevity benefits tied to vitamin D, or how ashwagandha can boost brain function and mood. Or perhaps, you’ve looked into taking magnesium to aid with poor sleep quality. Now, new research points to a supplement that could slow down dementia risk in older adults.
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Many older adults are deficient in vitamin B-12.
There are nine different types of B vitamins, including thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, folate, B-6, and B-12—the last of which is associated with dementia protection.
New research out of Tufts University claims “while many elderly people may have B-12 levels that are in the ‘low to normal’ range, they are simultaneously developing neurological deficits linked to vitamin B-12 deficiency.”
The National Institute of Aging (NIA) recommends adults aged 50 and older get 2.4 micrograms of vitamin B-12 every day. This vitamin is naturally found in meat, fish, poultry, milk, and fortified breakfast cereals. However, as we age, our bodies can have difficulty absorbing B-12 from foods, which is why many doctors will advise older patients to take B-12 dietary supplements to prevent deficiency.
Irwin H. Rosenberg, MD, is a researcher and the Jean Mayer University Professor Emeritus at Tufts. In a news release, Rosenberg said the relationship between vitamin B-12 deficiency and cognitive decline, and therefore dementia, is “under-diagnosed and under-reported.”
“Age-related cognitive decline is not just Alzheimer’s,” he continued. “We’ve lumped together many kinds of brain dysfunction under one name. And in doing so, we’ve overlooked how critical blood vessels—and by extension, nutrition—are to preserving brain function.”
Nearly half of adults are unable to absorb “food-bound B-12” by the ages of 75 to 80. “This deficiency leads to a decline in nerve health, particularly in the spine and brain, which can contribute to the risk of developing dementia in older adults,” said Tufts researchers.
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Can strong vitamin B levels ward off dementia effects?
In a previous Best Life interview, registered dietitian Michelle Saari, MS, RD, said evidence suggests “that B-12 can help in reducing brain atrophy and cognitive decline, particularly in older adults.”
Vitamin B-12 is “vital for the maintenance and repair of nerve cells, which benefits our brains. It helps in the formation of the protective covering of nerves, known as the myelin sheath,” further explained Saari, who works with EHealth Project.
“Without B-12, this sheath can deteriorate, leading to nerve damage. Healthy nerve cells are crucial for effective brain function, and B-12 plays a key role in ensuring the proper functioning and communication of these cells,” she added.
But if the correlation between B-12 deficiency and dementia risk is already “under-reported,” then the impact of this deficiency on Alzheimer’s is even more underrecognized.
Alzheimer’s disease develops when there is “an abnormal buildup of two proteins in the brain.” These proteins are called amyloid and tau, and when clustered together, they form “plaques and tangles which are believed to disrupt brain cell function.”
But according to Rosenberg, “cerebrovascular disease and small vessel disease, which in some cases are connected to B vitamin deficiency, is more prevalent with cognitive decline and dementia than the buildup of harmful proteins in the brain.”
And while that may be the case, a majority of Alzheimer’s research and medication development is concentrated on clustered proteins. “Treating people with drugs meant to address the protein buildup will not work if the cause of dementia symptoms is a B12 deficiency,” stated Rosenberg.
Looking towards the future, senior scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) are carrying out multiple vitamin B and brain aging studies to better understand these effects.
“This study should give us a good handle on whether B12 is related to cognitive decline and dementia. If so, hopefully we can identify a simple, inexpensive intervention that could be started years in advance and before real damage occurs,” said Paul Jacques, MS, ScD, HNRCA senior scientist and professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, who is involved in the research.
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