“Normal” levels of vitamin B12 may not be enough to remove dementia, new research reveals.
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco studied 231 healthy seniors (on average 71 years old) who had no dementia or mild cognitive damage.
Blood tests showed that their B12 levels on average 414.8 pmol/l, while the minimum recommended in the US is only 148 pmol/l.
Participants who had lower B12 levels were found to have “slower cognitive speeds and visual processing” when receiving tests, which is associated with “delicate cognitive drop”, according to a UCSF press release.
The effect was more pronounced with age.
People with lower levels also had more lesions in the white matter in their brains, which can be a warning sign of cognitive fall, madness or stroke, researchers found.
The findings were published on the Annals of Neurology on February 10.
Based on these results, researchers recommend updating the current B12 requirements.
“Previous studies that determined healthy amounts of B12 may have lost delicate functional manifestations of high or low levels that may affect people without causing clear symptoms,” said senior Author J. Green, MD, departments of UCSF of neurology and ophthalmology and the Weill Institute for Neurosciences.
“Review of the definition of B12 deficiency to include functional biomarkers can lead to previous interference and prevent cognitive fall.”
Researchers admitted that the study included only the elderly, who may have a “specific weakness” to the lower levels of B12.
However, those lower levels, “can affect recognition to a greater extent than we thought before, and can affect a much greater part of the population than we understand”, according to the first author Alexandra Beaudry-Richard, who is currently completing her doctorate in research and medicine in the UCSF neurology and department of microbiology and Immunology at the University of Ottawa.
“In addition to redefining B12 deficiency, clinics should consider supplementing in older patients with neurological symptoms even if their levels are within normal limits,” she suggested.
“After all, we need to invest in more research on B12 insufficiency biology, as it can be a preventable cause of cognitive decline.”
Dr. Brett Osborn, a neurosurgeon in Florida and longevity expert, said the study supports the idea that “normal” levels of vitamin B12 are “extremely inappropriate” for brain protection from age decline.
“Even participants with B12 levels considered” normal “by today’s medical standards showed clear signs of neurological damage – slower processing speeds, increased white substance hyperintensity in MRI (a marker of small vessels) , and the protein raised Tau (a biomarker of neurodegeneration). Fox News Digital.
Minimum current recommendations were not designed for optimal cognitive functioning or lifespan, according to Osborn.
On the contrary, they were based on population averages – an inherent drawback when the ‘average’ person today is metabolically unhealthy. This is another example of the main drug that remains after science. “
At the OSBORN Clinic, it recommends supplements of B complex vitamins, including B12, to provide healthy homocysteine levels, an amino acid produced during protein metabolism.
“When homocysteine is raised – a possible representative for low B12 – brain function falls,” Osborn said.
The doctor noted that the study is an observer, and that “the correlation does not prove the cause”.
“But do you really need a controlled case test to tell you that optimizing B12 gets brain health? This is like expecting a study to confirm that eating vegetables is good for you,” he said OSBORN.
“The data is there. Science is pure crystal. “
Like researchers, Osborn called for an updating of the “Normal” lab level.
“Time to start determining health by optimal levels – not from whatever happens to be” average “in an increasingly sick population. Because who wants to be normal when you can be optimal?”
Dr. Earnest Lee Murray, a board-certified neurologist at Jackson-Madison General Hospital in Jackson, Tennesi, agreed that this study raises the issue of redefining the levels that make up a B12 deficiency.
“Previous studies have recommended supplementation in patients with known vitamin B12 deficiency to alleviate cognitive issues; However, no clear evidence has been found to suggest benefits in completing B12 in patients without deficiencies, “Murray, who was not involved in the study, told the Fox News Digital.
The neurologist warned against people who took “mega doses” of vitamins.
“Often, high levels of vitamins, especially B12, will not cause issues; However, it can happen, ”Murray said.
“I would recommend that patients who are older or at risk of developing cognitive fall discuss with their doctor to be tested – not only for vitamin B12 levels but also for other markers who may suggest improper absorption of vitamin B12. “
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