Three common vitamins—folic acid, and vitamins B6 and B12—may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) when taken in high doses. AD typically strikes the middle-aged and elderly, and is characterized by loss of cognitive function: the ability to think, speak, and remember.

Researchers now believe that risk for AD is linked to excess blood levels of homocysteine, a naturally occurring amino acid, which is toxic to the body at high levels. Those with AD have higher blood levels of homocysteine than do people of similar age that do not have the disease. In an eight-week pilot study, researchers from the National Institute on Aging—part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health—found that high doses of folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 reduced levels of homocysteine in AD sufferers. An 18-month therapeutic trial is now underway to determine whether these nutrients can slow the progression of the disease.

Homocysteine forms as the body breaks down and uses protein. Under normal circumstances, enzymes turn homocysteine into the amino acid methionine, which the body then uses to build its own proteins. This process of converting homocysteine into methionine requires folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. When these nutrients are deficient, homocysteine can rise to unsafe levels in the blood.

A growing body of evidence suggests that excess homocysteine is a meaningful risk factor for a number of diseases including AD, heart disease, osteoporosis (bone disease), presbyopia (disease of the eye), and vascular disease. According to The New England Journal of Medicine, high levels of homocysteine may increase the risk of developing AD, and researchers from Boston University in Boston, MA, report that those with elevated homocysteine levels have nearly double the risk of developing the disease. Researchers are hopeful that correcting deficiencies in folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 will lower disease risk.

Reference: American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry; 2003, Vol. 11, 246-9.

Tags: aging, Alzheimer's, brain, homocysteine, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin E

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