“Harvard Study Shows Daily Multivitamins may Reverse Cognitive Decline in the Elderly”

We have always learned that multivitamins are not necessary if you just eat a healthy and varied diet. Harvard researchers now seem to be coming back to that: a daily multivitamin pill would help the brain to stay fresh and fruity. Those who already suffer from cardiovascular problems get an extra boost.

The researchers point out that cognitive decline is one of the most important health problems in the elderly. But their study now shows that there is a simple and cheap way to counteract the decline, so a multivitamin pill.

One pill daily
There are many seniors who take vitamin supplements with the belief that it is generally good for their health. But until now, science has not come up with a clear answer about its usefulness. To find out more about this, researchers from Harvard and Columbia decided to have 3,500 people aged 60 and older take a pill every day for three years. One half received multivitamins and the other half a placebo. Naturally, the test subjects did not know which group they were in. At the end of each year, all participants were tested. They were given all kinds of cognitive assignments, which they were allowed to carry out at home via the computer. The focus was on the memory function of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that deteriorates with age.

At the end of the first year there was a clear difference between the two groups. The participants who took multivitamins daily were cognitively better off. The improvement, which lasted through the end of the study, was equivalent to about three years of age-related decline. Thus, the brains of those taking multivitamins were on average three years younger than those of their placebo-taking peers.

Not the first study
Interestingly, the effect was even greater in the participants who suffered from cardiovascular disease. The results are consistent with a previous study of 2,200 elderly people, which found that a daily multivitamin pill had a positive impact on the brain in general and on attention span and memory in particular. Even then, a greater effect was seen in people with cardiovascular problems. “It seems that people with cardiovascular disease have lower amounts of micronutrients in their bodies on average and that taking multivitamins every day solves this problem. But we can’t yet say for sure that this is why the cognitive effect is stronger for this group of people,” explains researcher Adam Brickman.

More sensitive than expected
The scientists did not look at the effect of individual vitamins and minerals, but they did show that these nutrients are important for the brain health of the elderly. “Our study shows that the aging brain is more sensitive to nutrients than we thought. It does not really matter which micronutrients are exactly responsible for the positive effect. Multivitamins are cheap and there are no known side effects if the daily dose is not exceeded,” explains researcher Lok-Kin Yeung.

Also healthy food
So swallow, seems to be the advice, especially when you get a day older. “There are now two large double-blind studies confirming the effect of a daily multivitamin pill on the brain. That is of course a very interesting outcome,” said researcher JoAnn Manson. “It is also a safe, simple and affordable way to boost cognitive health in the elderly or at least slow down the decline.”

The researchers do warn that the supplements cannot replace normal healthy food. The positive effect on body and mind is only achieved if the pills are taken in combination with a healthy diet. So eating healthy plus a daily vitamin pill seems to be the best cure for cognitive decline.