Tag: Alzheimer’s

Vegetables And Dietary Supplementation Protect Against Alzheimer’s

Claus Hancke

August 30, 2005

Elderly persons who get adequate amounts of folic acid have a 55% reduced risk of getting dementia induced by Alzheimer’s disease, says an American study.

Lack of the B vitamin folic acid is probably the most common deficiency in Denmark. Too few people manage to chew the 2-300 grams of green vegetables that are needed every day if they want the recommended 0.3 mg from the diet. In the United States, 0.4 mg is recommended, but here grain products are legally enriched with folic acid.

Most women know that if they are planning a pregnancy, they should take folic acid (0.4 mg/day) to avoid the risk of giving birth to a child with spina bifida. Fewer know that there is much evidence that folic acid also protects against atherosclerosis and even certain types of cancer.

Several studies have suggested that folic acid also prevents Alzheimer’s dementia. But now the first issue of a new scientific journal for the American Alzheimer’s Association opens with a very tangible result: Elderly people who get at least the recommended 0.4 mg of folic acid per day develop Alzheimer’s less than half as often as others!

If this is not just a statistical coincidence, the significance is enormous. One in five adults will eventually develop Alzheimer’s, and few of them may be getting the protective 0.4 mg of folic acid a day. Almost all (87%) of those who reached the target in the American study were taking vitamin pills as a supplement.

The study followed 579 elderly men and women. Of these, 57 developed Alzheimer’s over the next nine years, but the risk was clearly reduced (to 45%) in that third who got enough folic acid. It is important to note that it was irrelevant whether the folic acid came from vegetables or vitamin supplements. No similar association was found with other vitamins.

This finding is supported by others, but it must be emphasized that it only shows correlations, not causes. On the other hand, one can easily imagine a causal relationship. Alzheimer’s is caused by the deposition in the brain of the substance beta-amyloid, which is so toxic to brain cells that they can die. With a lack of folic acid, the body’s content of the equally harmful homocysteine ​​increases, which can therefore be thought to enhance the toxic effect of beta-amyloid. This is actually supported by animal studies.

Another explanation has to do with the importance of folic acid in the so-called one-carbon metabolism. Together with vitamin B12, folic acid is responsible for the supply of very small biochemical building blocks – so-called methyl groups, which contain one carbon atom. These small building blocks are used in the construction of a variety of proteins in addition to DNA. A lack of folic acid can therefore affect the mechanisms that normally prevent the deposition of beta-amyloid. This is also supported by scientific experiments.

However, the formation of beta-amyloid with the subsequent destruction of brain cells is a very complicated process, in which several enzymes, DNA, proteins that take care of cholesterol, free oxygen radicals, etc. play a role.

This is reflected in the Alzheimer’s Association’s very general advice for those who want to avoid Alzheimer’s: Stay mentally and physically active, eat a low-fat diet, and keep cholesterol levels low. Also, get plenty of dark-colored fruits and vegetables.

It is in these vegetables and fruits that folic acid is found. What is new is that folic acid is now being pointed out much more directly as a preventive factor, albeit with reservations.

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. Corrada MM. et al. Alzheimer’s & Dementia. 2005;1:11-18.
2. Fuso A. et al. S-adenosylmethionine/homocysteine cycle alterations modify DNA methylation status with consequent deregulation of PS1 and BACE and beta-amyloid production. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2005 Jan;28(1):195-204.
3. Quadri P. et al. Homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 in mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease aqmd vascular dementia. Am J Clin Nutr 2004,80:114-22

www.sciencedirect.com/science
www.ajcn.org
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Vitamin E Against Alzheimer’s Disease and Colds

Claus Hancke

October 11, 2004

The World’s leading experts in vitamin E participated in a congress in New York in the spring which was sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences. The last time such a congress was held was in 1989 and some of the news have now been described in the October issue of the Academy’s scientific magazine.

It is astounding that we are still discussing nature’s purpose of Vitamin E. It can actually be difficult to find obvious deficiency symptoms in humans. However, it is certain that the vitamin is highly important. All higher animals – including fish – produce the protein TTT with the single task of transporting vitamin E in the blood. Natures probably would not have gone to such trouble of making a transport protein for a substance that the body could easily do without.

“When nature has chosen exactly alpha-tocopherol from the thousands of antioxidants in our surroundings, there must be a reason”, declared Angelo Azzi of the University of Bern. Vitamin E slows down the blood platelets when they are about to clog and form blood clots.

This is significant to the tendency of other cells to stick to each other, divide, and to send signals to each other. Furthermore, it increases the production of nitric oxide (NO) which is an important signalling molecule that relaxes the blood vessels and thereby lowers the blood pressure. How can we translate these fundamental abilities into something we can see and feel, though?

The participants at the congress presented results showing that Vitamin E delays Alzheimer’s disease. According to a French study, the combination of vitamin C and vitamin E can prevent the disease from occuring in the first place. The same combination of vitamins also prevents pre-eclampsia. Finally, a randomized trial has shown that vitamin E reduces the frequency of colds in elderly people by 25%.

A constant controversial question is why only a single randomized trial have been able to show that vitamin E prevents coronary thrombosis when there are so many other indications of this effect. The explanation could be that synthetic Vitamin E has often been used instead of natural vitamin E. Synthetic Vitamin E consists of eight different substances of which only a single one is present in nature.

Another reason might be that the Vitamin E has not been supplemented with vitamin C; automatic supplementation with Vitamin C happens in animals because of their ability to produce Vitamin C themselves.

However, the reason might also be that the participants of almost all the studies had been severely atherosclerotic from the start. “Once calcification has damaged an artery, the damage will heal very poorly”, professor Meydani of Tufts University, USA. Vitamin E is probably better at preventing than curing diseases!

Professor Maret Traber from Oregon estimates that 70 – 80% of all adults get less than the recommended 30 mg. of Vitamin E weekly. Her advice is to live healthily and that there is no harm in taking an extra Vitamin E supplement.
The exact reason for its beneficial effect will perhaps not be elucidated for another 15 years.

By: Vitality Council

Reference:
Hopkin K. New York Academy of Sciences Magazine 2004; October: 4-6.

www.nyas.org/publications
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