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B Vitamins and the risk of Alzheimers

B Vitamins stop brain shrinkage preventing Dementia and Alzheimers.

A study was carried out at Oxford University studying the effects of giving homocysteine-lowering B vitamins or a placebo to 270 people with age-related memory decline, but not yet diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

They also tested their homocysteine levels and did an MRI brain scan in most of the participants at the beginning and end of the 24-month trial, making it perhaps the most thorough piece of research on this subject to date.

The results showed that in the placebo group, the higher the homocysteine level the greater was the rate of brain shrinkage, with those above 13µmol/L (in the top quarter of the population) showing double the rate of brain shrinkage (1.5% per year) compared to 0.8% in those with homocysteine levels below 10.

What’s more, the rate of brain shrinkage was a strong predictor of cognitive function. In those with levels above 13µmol/L and taking B vitamins, a 53% reduction in the rate of shrinkage was noted, compared to the placebo. Since the brain does normally shrink with age, this reduction was equivalent to stopping any abnormal shrinkage characteristic of those who go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

These results provide the strongest evidence yet that keeping your homocysteine levels low will protect you from Alzheimer’s disease. There are other studies and anecdotal reports that support this.

Courtesy of the National Association of Health Stores.

Solgar’s Homocysteine Modulators contains Trimethylglycine that has been shown to reduce homocysteine levels – as well as 50mg of B6, 500µg of B12 and 400µg of folic acid.

Solgar Homocysteine Modulator - £9.65 for 60 vegetable capsules.