Study kills theory, discovers vitamin B not as helpful as thought against Alzheimer's
Vitamin B may be a general guardian of good health, but new research finds that it does little in the way of reducing the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's disease.One of the many theories surrounding Alzheimer's disease concerns the level of the enzyme homocysteine in the body. Among Alzheimer's sufferers, the level is dramatically increased. Vitamin B has been shown to reduce the levels of homocysteine, and it was thought that doing so could ease the symptoms of Alzheimer's. According to the new research from the University of California, San Diego, however, that just isn't the case.
Researchers at the university randomly assigned vitamins B6 and B12 or a placebo to a group of 400 Alzheimer's patients. Over an 18-month follow-up period, they discovered that the vitamins had no significant effect on the level of cognitive decline in the patients. Experts in the field have said that this study puts an end to the idea that reducing homocysteine levels will ease Alzheimer's symptoms. The full report was published in the Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
