Serum Folate Status found Significant in Reduction of Dementia Risk.

A study conducted at the Chonnam National University, Republic of Korea and published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 2007 investigated folate, vitamin B12 and homocysteine status as predictors of dementia. Researchers enrolled 625 elderly patients over age 65 that were without dementia at baseline. Serum folate, vitamin B12, and homocysteine was measured at baseline and again after an average 2.4 years. 518 subjects were available for follow-up, of those 45 subjects (8.7%) developed dementia. Researchers found that only low baseline serum folate was predictive of onset of dementia. The onset of dementia was up to 3.5 times more likely to occur in patients whose folate levels were deficient to begin with, as opposed to those whose levels fell over the two-year period.These results are consistent with a 2005 long-term National Institute on Aging study of diet and brain aging that found consumption of folate significantly reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. (See the Bio-Design Update of Aug 12 2005 available at our website archive.) In that study subjects whose folate intake was at or above 400 mcg had a 55% reduction in risk of developing Alzheimer's. Researchers also stated that most subjects who reached a daily intake of 400 mcg took folic acid supplements, suggesting that most individuals do not reach their recommended intake of folate through diet alone.