Low vitamin B12 levels may be to blame for some cases of poor memory and cognitive decline in the elderly, a new study suggests.
The analysis of 121 people found that those with lower vitamin B12 levels scored worse on cognitive tests, and had smaller brain volumes as revealed by MRI scans. Shrinking brain volume has been linked to dementia in other studies.
"Every single marker of low vitamin B12 was correlated with low brain volume," said study researcher Christine Tangney, a clinical nutritionist at Rush University in Chicago.
"As folks get older, their guts change in their ability to absorb vitamin B12," Tangney told MyHealthNewsDaily. "For many people, the reason is that their stomach acid production is reduced." You need acid to break down the bonds between vitamin B12 and proteins, so older people may need more vitamin B12 as they age, and may be more likely to be deficient in the vitamin, she said.
In a normal brain, vitamin B12 allows cells to form new connections, a process that allows memory formation. B12 is also a vital component of myelin — the coating that protects many brain cells. These roles of B12 could explain why low levels of the vitamin lead to dementia or memory loss, the researchers said.
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