Folate deficiency triples risk for demential and Alzheimer's disease

4 February 2008

A study by Korean researchers suggests that a lack of folate (or folic acid) triples the risk of dementia (or Alzheimer's disease) in older people.

Researchers at Chonnam National University Medical School in Kwangju, Republic of Korea,

Blood tests were taken out at the start and end of the two year period to find out if they had a dementing illness. Blood tests were also taken to measure levels of folate, vitamin B12 and the protein homocysteine (which is associated with cardiovascular disease) and how these all factors changed over time.

At the beginning of the study, around 20% of the people had high levels of homocysteine, 17% had low levels of vitamin B12 and 3.5% had lows levels of folate. It was determined that the higher a person's blood levels of folate, the higher were vitamin B12 levels and homocysteine levels were lower.

By the end of the study, 45 people had developed dementia. Of these, 34 had Alzheimer’s disease, seven had vascular dementia, and four had “other” types of dementia.

The researchers discovered that dementia was higher in people who were older, relatively less educated, inactive and had deposits of the protein ApoE (which is a marker for dementia). In addition, those people whose folate levels fell lower over the two years and homocysteine rose, also were more significantly likely to develop dementia - people who were folate deficient at the start of the study, had a 3.5 times higher risk of developing dementia.

The researchers suggested that changes in micronutrients could be linked with the other typical signs that precede dementia, including weight loss and low blood pressure.



Resources
Mental Health Foundation. Vitamin Deficiency Linked to Dementia. Accessed 8 Feb 2008
G Ravaglia, P Forti, et al. Homocysteine and folate as risk factors for dementia and Alzheimer disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 82, No. 3, 636-643, September 2005. Accessed 8 Feb 08
tracked the development of dementia in 518 people over two years from 2001 to 2003. All participants were over the age of 65 and lived in one rural and one urban area in the south of Korea.