A US study is the first to show that a daily supplement of vitamins and minerals can benefit the brain.
The trial suggests that daily supplements may slow cognitive decline in older people with a history of cardiovascular disease, with the most significant effects seen in older people with a history of cardiovascular disease.
While experts in Alzheimer's disease are encouraged by the findings, they caution that larger studies are needed to confirm the effect before they recommend daily multivitamins. The previous tests didn't show an effect on the disease.
The first evidence in a long-term, randomized controlled trial of older women and men shows that daily use of a safe, readily accessible, and low-cost multivitamin-mineral can improve cognitive function. There are public health implications for brain health and resilience against cognitive decline.
There are no drugs that can cure all of the common types of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia in the UK. Those with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and depression are more likely to be over the age of 65.
A study was done by researchers at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Before and during the three-year trial, the researchers rated the participants on their cognitive abilities.
Cocoa extract has been shown to have some benefit for brain function. Cocoa supplements did not make a difference to people's cognitive performance. The cognitive scores of people with cardiovascular disease who took daily multivitamin-mineral supplements improved. The results suggest either greater relative improvement or more protection from cardiovascular disease related cognitive decline.
Prof Laura Baker said it was too early to recommend daily multivitamins. There is more research that needs to be done in a bigger and more diverse group of people. She said that there was still work to be done to understand why the multivitamin might benefit older adults.
The group leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute at Edinburgh University said the study was well conducted, but noted that most people involved were highly educated white people.
She said that it would be important to confirm that the results hold up. It is not clear from the study if using multivitamins will prevent diseases like Alzheimer's. None of the supplements tested have been effective in treating Alzheimer's disease.
Dr Maria Carrillo, chief scientific officer at the Alzheimer's Association, said: "This is the first positive, large-scale, long-term study to show that multivitamin-mineral supplements may slow cognitive aging." The Alzheimer's Association is encouraged by the results, but we are not ready to recommend widespread use of a multivitamin supplement to reduce risk of cognitive decline in older adults.
Larger, more diverse study populations need independent confirmatory studies. Future treatments and preventions need to be effective in every population.
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