Memory Won't Improve With Vitamin B, Folic Acid Supplementation

Contrary to findings from early observational studies, vitamin B₁₂ and folic acid supplementation does not improve cognitive performance in elderly patients with elevated levels of an amino acid linked to Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss, according to randomized placebo-controlled trial results published online in Neurology on November 12, 2014.

In one of the largest trials to date on the impact that long-term supplement use has on memory, researchers investigated the effects of 400 µg folic acid and 500 µg vitamin B₁₂ supplementation taken daily over a 2-year period on the cognitive performance of patients aged 74 years, on average, with homocysteine levels between 12 and 50 µmol/L.

At the conclusion of their study, the authors found homocysteine concentrations decreased 5 µmol/L in the vitamin group and 1.3 µmol/L in the placebo group. Nevertheless, performance on tests of episodic memory, attention and working memory, information processing speed, and executive function did not differ over time between the 2 groups.

As a result, the investigators concluded that their research “provides Class I evidence that 2-year supplementation with folic acid and vitamin B₁₂ in hyperhomocysteinemic elderly people does not affect cognitive performance.”

“Since homocysteine levels can be lowered with folic acid and vitamin B₁₂ supplements, the hope has been that taking these vitamins could also reduce the risk of memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease,” said study author Rosalie Dhonukshe-Rutten, PhD, of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, in a press release from the American Academy of Neurology. “While the homocysteine levels decreased by more in the group taking the B vitamins than in the group taking the placebo, unfortunately there was no difference between the 2 groups in the scores on the thinking and memory tests.”