January/February 2006
Page 6
Folic Acid Helps Slow Memory Loss
By Lauren Neergaard - Associated PressHigh doses stall aging effects: Study Equivalent to kilogram of strawberries
WASHINGTON - High-dose folic acid pills - providing as much of the nutrient as one kilogram of strawberries - might help slow the cognitive decline of aging. So says a Dutch study that shows a vitamin could really improve memory. The research, unveiled this week at a meeting of Alzheimer's researchers, adds to mounting evidence that a diet higher in folate is important for a variety of health effects. It's already proven to reduce birth defects, and research suggests it helps ward off heart disease and strokes, too. The new study does not show folic acid could prevent Alzheimer' s - the people who tested the vitamin did not have symptoms of that disease.
But, as people age, some decline in memory and other brain functions is inevitable. Taking 800 micrograms of folic acid a day slowed that brain drain, reported lead researcher Jane Durga of Wagenigan University in the Netherlands.
In the study, 818 cognitively healthy people, age 50 to 75, swallowed either folic acid or a dummy pill for three years. On memory tests, the supplement users had scores comparable with people 5.5 years younger, Durga said. On tests of cognitive speed, the folic acid helped users perform as well as people 1.9 years younger.
That's significant brain protection with a supplement already well known to be safe, said Johns Hopkins University neuroscientist Marilyn Albert, who chairs the science advisory council of the Alzheimer's Association.
"I think I would take folic acid, assuming my doctor said it was okay," Albert said. "We know Alzheimer's disease, the pathology, begins many, many years before the symptoms. We ought to be thinking about the health of our brain the same way we think about the health of our heart." Indeed, there is enough research now suggesting ways to gird the brain against age-related memory loss and Alzheimer's that the association has begun offering classes to teach people the techniques.
- Exercise your brain. Using it in unusual ways increases blood flow and helps the brain wire new connections. That's important to build up what's called cognitive reserve, the ability to adapt to or to withstand the damage or Alzheimer' s a little longer. In youth, that means good education. Later in life, do puzzles, learn to play chess, take classes.
- Stay socially stimulated. Declining social interaction with age predicts declining cognitive function.
- Exercise your body. Bad memory is linked to the disease and diabetes because clogged arteries slow flood flow to the brain.
Experts recommend going triple-whammy for something mentally, physically and socially stimulating: Coach your child's ball team. Take a dance class. Strategize a round of golf, Alzheimer' s researchers have long recommended a heart-healthy diet as being good for the brain but the Folic acid study tests the advice directly. Previous studies have shown that people with low folate levels in their blood are more at risk for both heart disease and diminished cognitive function.
Durga said it is not clear how folic acid protects the brain. Some studies suggest folate lowers inflamation; others suggest a tie to dementia-related genes. Folate is found in oranges and strawberries, dark-green leafy vegetables and beans. In North America, it is added to cereal and flour products. The National Institutes of Health online say recommended daily intake of folic acid in Canada ranges from 50 to 80 micrograms at birth to 445 to 475 micrograms for pregnant women, doctors advise women of childbearing age to take a supplement to ensure they get that much.
SOURCE: The Bulletin, Ostomy Toronto, November 2005, via Inside Out On-line Jan/Feb 06.
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