Most of us fear that we may develop dementia as we get older. I fear that I may have got it already, as my memory for names becomes even worse. One piece of good news is that, for around one third of people, it may be possible to prevent dementia simply by taking three forms of vitamin B. Vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid.

The research work on this was done at Oxford University, and was published earlier this year. I received a copy of the study about a month ago, and I read it with great interest. The key statements from the abstract are, as follows:

‘Our results shows that B-vitamin supplementation can slow the atrophy of specific brain regions that are a key component of the AD processes and that are associated with cognitive decline.

….we go further by demonstrating that B vitamin reduces, by as much as seven fold, the cerebral atrophy in those grey matter (GM) regions specifically vulnerable to the AD (Alzheimer’s Disease) process.’

Some of you may know that Jerome Burne blogged about this a while ago, which is what attracted my interest in the first place. It immediately fired me into instant action. Several weeks later I got hold of the full paper, which was published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It is entitled: ‘Preventing Alzheimer’s disease-related gray matter atrophy by B-vitamin treatment.’ Sorry to say that you have to pay to get the entire manuscript.

This study built on earlier work which also demonstrated a significant reduction in brain shrinkage using vitamin B(s) (at lower doses). The brain images themselves look particularly impressive, even to my untrained eye, with far less atrophy to see in the vitamin B treated group.

Unfortunately, this benefit only seems to be available those people who had a high level of homocysteine in their blood in the first place. A level found in about one third of the population.  For the other two thirds, taking vitamins does not seem to help.

Why do vitamin B(s) have this beneficial effect in this group?  Well, it has been known for a long time that people with high homocysteine levels are more prone to developing dementia. It is also known that B-vitamins lower the level of homocysteine the blood (look up Wikipedia if you want more detail on this complex area). However, just because a high level of homocysteine is found in people with dementia, does not mean that it truly is cause. It may be an innocent bystander. An association, rather than a cause.

However, the Oxford group, by lowering homocysteine and slowing brain atrophy, have gone a long way to prove that homocysteine does seem to be an actual cause of dementia. At least in about one third of people who have high levels in the first place. More importantly, the risk of dementia can be significantly reduced using a simple regime of B vitamins. A regime that appears to have no adverse effects – apart from a small degree of damage to the bank balance.

Why, you might ask, is no-one doing anything about this? Last week our glorious UK health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, announced that he was, sorry, we were, going to defeat dementia in twelve years’ time. Or some other such nonsense figure that he plucked from out of thin air. Did he mention research into vitamin B? No, he did not. Why not? Possibly because no-one made him aware of this research. Probably because he has no interest in dementia other than as a career enhancing, five minute, sound bite. He is such a busy, busy, man. Tomorrow he will be curing cancer. Sorry, we will be curing cancer.

A further important reason for the deafening silence in this area is because pharmaceutical companies cannot make money out of vitamins. Vitamins cannot be patented; therefore any profit margin is far too puny to be of interest to them. Which means that there will be no funding from the pharmaceutical industry to support any further research into B vitamins.

Even worse, if vitamins do work to reduce dementia this will significantly erode any pharmaceutical industry profits to be made. In commercial parlance vitamins would be called – ‘the competition’.

‘And what do we do to ‘the competition’ boys and girls?’

‘We crush it sir?’

‘Yes, that’s right, we crush it like an insect under our boot, don’t we boys and girls. Using any means possible……lock and load.’

I am sure a few Grima Wormtongues, sorry pharmaceutical company lobbyists, have already been whispering in various ears, denigrating this vitamin B research. ‘Very preliminary, not very convincing, we need a new approach, you need to support us, the pharmaceutical industry, only we can find a cure…….my precious…..’

Trust in me, just in me
Shut your eyes and trust in me
You can sleep safe and sound
Knowing I am around
Slip into silent slumber
Sail on a silver mist
Slowly and surely your senses
Will cease to resist
Trust in me, just in me
Shut your eyes and trust in me

(Kaa, the python the Jungle Book)

Wake up, wake up!

Of course Vitamin B is not a miracle cure for all forms of Dementia. In fact it is not a cure – in any recognised sense of that word. All that vitamin B(s) can do is to significantly slow the process of brain shrinkage. Once you have lost brain tissue, it does not come back.

In addition, these vitamins only work in about a third of the population, and only for Alzheimer’s Disease.  There are other causes of dementia, and vitamin B compounds will have no effect on them, at all. However, right now, it looks like by far best thing we have got. In fact, it is the only thing we have got. Alzheimer’s meds can slightly improve symptoms, but have no impact on the underlying disease process.

On the other hand, for the sake of a relatively simple blood test, and spending a couple of hundred pounds (or dollars) on vitamins a year, or however much they actually cost you, this decision is a no-brainer (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun).

Indeed, it is such an obvious thing to do that I have started to offer the blood test at my own clinic. (Yes, I suppose this counts as a Disclosure of Interest). Mainly because no-one in the NHS is the slightest bit interested. So someone had to do it.

The daily doses of vitamin B in this study were:

20mg vitamin B6
500mcg vitamin B12
800mcg folic acid

These are considerably higher than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for these vitamins. But the RDAs for almost all vitamins were established as a bare minimum, many years ago, using virtually zero evidence. They remain unchangeable by any means known to man. I call them the ‘ten vitamin commandments,’ which have been engraved upon stone.

Until a group of idiots…sorry experts, decides to study the benefits of various vitamins in greater depth, we are going to be stuck with RDAs that make no sense, and will certainly not help you to delay, or even prevent, dementia. Until then, get a blood test to check homocysteine levels. Providing, that is, you can find anyone to do it. Then, if it is high, take vitamin B(s).  They can do you no harm, but they could do you a hell of a lot of good. Which is my kind of preventative medicine.