For a Healthier Brain, Elevate Your Vitamin B12 Levels

A healthy brain needs more than just ‘normal’ vitamin B12 levels! Don’t let low B12 levels cause cognitive decline.

Want to keep cognitive decline at bay? Don’t settle for ‘normal’ vitamin B12 levels—your brain craves more!

Getting the minimum vitamin B12 needed for DNA, red blood cells, and nerve health may not be enough, especially for older adults. It could also raise the risk of cognitive decline.

Vitamin B12 - An Essential Vitamin
If you feel that the persistent or regular incidences of depression have got nothing to do with what you eat, think again. The reason behind low spirits can be due to insufficient levels vitamin B12.

‘Did You Know?
Even vitamin B12 levels within the normal range can be linked to neurological and cognitive deficiencies. So, elevate your B12 levels and go beyond the minimum!’

Vitamin B12 and Your Brain: Why 'Normal' Isn't Enough

A new study, led by UC San Francisco researchers, found that older, healthy volunteers, with lower concentrations of B12, but still in the normal range, showed signs of neurological and cognitive deficiency. These levels were associated with more damage to the brain’s white matter – the nerve fibers that enable communication between areas of the brain – and test scores associated with slower cognitive and visual processing speeds, compared to those with higher B12.

The findings of the study are published in the journal Annals of Neurology ().

Vitamin B12 Deficiency
Deficiency of vitamin B12 can result in hematological, neurological and psychological complications which are life-threatening.

Upgrade Your Vitamin B12 Levels for a Sharper Mind

The researchers led by senior author Ari J. Green, MD, of the UCSF Departments of Neurology and Ophthalmology and the Weill Institute for Neurosciences, said that the results raise questions about current B12 requirements and suggest the recommendations need updating.

“Previous studies that defined healthy amounts of B12 may have missed subtle functional manifestations of high or low levels that can affect people without causing overt symptoms,” said Green, noting that clear deficiencies of the vitamin are commonly associated with a type of anemia. “Revisiting the definition of B12 deficiency to incorporate functional biomarkers could lead to earlier intervention and prevention of cognitive decline.”

How Can We Keep the Brain Young?
Mental decline is common, and it is one of the most feared consequences of aging. This does not imply that cognitive impairment is inevitable. Ways to keep the brain agile and young is core essential and needs to be the way of life.

Low B12 Levels Slow Down Your Brainpower

In the study, researchers enrolled 231 healthy participants without dementia or mild cognitive impairment, whose average age was 71. They were recruited through the Brain Aging Network for Cognitive Health (BrANCH) study at UCSF.

Their blood B12 amounts averaged 414.8 pmol/L, well above the U.S. minimum of 148 pmol/L. Adjusted for factors like age, sex, education and cardiovascular risks, researchers looked at the biologically active component of B12, which provides a more accurate measure of the amount of the vitamin that the body can utilize. In cognitive testing, participants with lower active B12 were found to have slower processing speed, relating to subtle cognitive decline. Its impact was amplified by older age. They also showed significant delays responding to visual stimuli, indicating slower visual processing speeds and general slower brain conductivity.

Older Adults are Deficient in Vitamin B12 and Folate
A substantial number of older adults aged above 50 were found to be at risk of vitamin B12 and folate deficiency (the natural vitamin linked to the dietary supplement, folic acid).

Vitamin B12 Deficiency Increases the Risk of Cognitive Decline, Dementia and Stroke

MRIs revealed a higher volume of lesions in the participants’ white matter, which may be associated with cognitive decline, dementia or stroke.

While the study volunteers were older adults, who may have a specific vulnerability to lower levels of B12, co-first author Alexandra Beaudry-Richard, MSc, said that these lower levels could “impact cognition to a greater extent than what we previously thought, and may affect a much larger proportion of the population than we realize.” Beaudry-Richard is currently completing her doctorate in research and medicine at the UCSF Department of Neurology and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Ottawa.

Vitamin B12 Supplementation Protects the Aging Brain

“In addition to redefining B12 deficiency, clinicians should consider supplementation in older patients with neurological symptoms even if their levels are within normal limits,” she said. “Ultimately, we need to invest in more research about the underlying biology of B12 insufficiency, since it may be a preventable cause of cognitive decline.”

Reference:

Vitamin B12 Levels Association with Functional and Structural Biomarkers of Central Nervous System Injury in Older Adults - (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ana.27200)

Source-Eurekalert