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02.21.07
Indication:
Alzheimer's
Source:
Archives of Neurology, January 2007;64(1):86-92.
Research:
Researchers set out to determine the effects of folate and vitamins B6 and B12 on Alzheimer's disease. Researchers followed up 965 subjects 65 years or older without dementia at baseline after the administration of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Total, dietary and supplement intake of folate and vitamins B6 and B12 and kilocalorie intake were estimated from the questionnaire responses. Researchers related energy-adjusted intake of folate and vitamins B6 and B12 to incident Alzheimer's disease using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. The main outcome measure of the trial was incident Alzheimer's disease.
Results:
Investigators came across 192 cases of incident Alzheimer's disease. The highest quartile of total folate intake was related to a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease after adjustment for age, sex, education, ethnic group, the epsilon4 allele of apolipoprotein E, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, current smoking, heart disease, stroke, and vitamin B6 and B12 levels. Vitamin B6 and B12 levels, however, were not related to the risk of Alzheimer's disease. This led researchers to conclude that folate intake may decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease independent of other risk factors and levels of vitamins B6 and B12, but they said these results require confirmation with additional clinical trials.