Daily Multivitamins May Improve Cognition and Protect Against Mental Health Decline

A new study shows that taking a daily supplement may improve cognition in older adults. In the study, scientists estimated that three years of multivitamin supplementation roughly translated to a 60-percent slowing of cognitive decrease (about 1.8 years).

Daily multivitamin intake

Could taking a daily multivitamin help to maintain cognitive health with aging and also possibly prevent cognitive decline? According to recent research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, taking daily supplements may improve cognition in older adults. However, additional research studies are required to confirm these findings before any health suggestions are made. The study research also showed that daily consumption of a cocoa extract supplement doesn´t benefit cognition.

The findings were recently released in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

3 year-long study

According to the Alzheimer’s Organization, more than 6.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and one in three seniors die with the illness or another form of dementia.

According to Dr. Laura D. Baker and Dr. Mark Espeland, there’s an urgent necessity for safe and affordable interventions to protect cognition against decline in older adults. Baker is a Ph.D., professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and co-principal investigator of the test. Mark Espeland is a Ph.D., professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine

The COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study for the Mind (COSMOS-Mind), funded by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutions of Health, was an ancillary research to the COSMOS trial led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which randomized 21,442 men and women across the United States. The research investigated whether taking a daily cocoa extract supplement or a daily multivitamin-mineral supplement reduces the damage of developing heart illness, stroke, cancer, and other health results.

Cocoa-based supplements

According to Baker, cocoa extract is rich in compounds known as flavanols, and past research suggests that these compounds may positively impact cognition. Baker also stated that several micronutrients and minerals are needed to support the normal body and brain function, and deficiencies in older adults may increase the damage for cognitive decrease and dementia.

In COSMOS-Mind, scientists tested whether daily administration of cocoa extract against placebo and one multivitamin-mineral versus placebo improved cognition in older adults. More than 2,200 participants, ages sixty-five and older, enrolled and were followed for 3 years. Participants completed trials over the telephone at baseline and yearly to evaluate memory and other cognitive abilities.

Baker states that their study revealed that, although cocoa extract did not affect cognition, daily multivitamin-mineral supplementation resulted in statistically significant cognitive improvement. This is the 1st proof of cognitive benefit in a huge longer-term study of multivitamin supplements in older adults.

The benefit of multivitamin supplementation

The scientists estimated that three years of multivitamin supplementation roughly translated to a 60% slowing of cognitive decrease (about 1.8 yrs). The results were relatively more pronounced in participants with significant cardiovascular illness, which is essential because these people are already at increased damage for cognitive impairment and decrease.

Baker states that it is too early to recommend daily multivitamin supplementation to prevent cognitive decrease. While these preliminary findings are promising, additional research is required in a larger and more diverse group of people. Also, we still have work to do to better understand why the multivitamin might benefit cognition in older grownup.

The COcoa Supplement and also Multivitamin Results Study (COSMOS) is supported by an investigator-initiated grant from Mars Edge, one segment of Mars dedicated to nutrition research also, products that included infrastructure support, and also the donation of study pills and packaging.

Haleon offered support through the partial provision of study pills and packaging. COSMOS is supported partly by giving AG050657, AG071611, EY025623, and HL157665 from the National Institutions of Health, Bethesda, Md. The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) program is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutions of Health, U.S.Department of Health and Human Services by contracts 75N92021D00001, 75N92021D00002, 75N92021D00003, 75N92021D00004, 75N92021D00005. Neither Mars Edge nor Haleon offered input regarding data analyses, interpretation of outcomes, or manuscript development.

Read the original article on Scitech Daily.

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