More Evidence Multivitamins May Curtail Memory Loss

Daily multivitamins are consumed by millions of Americans, and a large nationwide trial suggests they may help with slowing memory loss in people aged 60 and older.

The study found that multivitamins may boost memory, as some participants ended up with 3.1 fewer years of normal, age-related memory loss. Their memories were effectively 3.1 years “younger” than those of the control, in other words.

This was the second such study of multivitamins within a larger body of research (COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS)) to come to the same conclusion. COSMOS has enrolled 21,442 older people as part of investigations into the effects of cocoa supplements and multivitamins on cognition and the risk of cancer and cardiovascular events.

A collaboration between scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Columbia University led the current research. The analysis involved over 3,500 elderly participants who took a daily Centrum Silver pill over the course of three years. This cohort had better memories by the end of the study period than those on the placebo treatment, as reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Co-author Adam Brickman described the effects as “very, very encouraging.”

“Cognitive change and memory loss are a top health concern for older adults,” he said. “And we don’t have many strategies to mitigate the changes that come with aging. So, it’s encouraging that a supplement can help address one of the main health concerns older adults have.”

 

Multivitamins’ General Utility

 

The NIH says that multivitamins are popular with older Americans, with 39% of people 60+ partaking. The official line is that you should get your nutrients from food unless you have a specific advisory from your doctor to take vitamins. They can fill in the nutritional gaps in our diet but may also trigger side effects at high doses.

The current evidence for multivitamins versus heart disease and cancer is “insufficient”, according to the U.S. Preventative Task Force. Similarly, Harvard Health has argued that much multivitamin use may be a waste that would be better spent on nutrient-dense foods like fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.

 

Back to School

 

The study participants were required to complete routine assessments of memory and cognition over the three-year study period: word recall, recognizing new objects, and measuring executive control were part of the program.

The multivitamin group performed significantly better than the control group in immediately reproducing a list of words, keeping up that benefit for an extra two years of follow-up. The effect was more pronounced in those who had an underlying cardiovascular disease.

These findings are exciting researchers because, just like all other organs, the brain will decline without the necessary fuel. As a complicated machine, the brain needs diverse nutrients and minerals to work properly; for example, insufficient levels of vitamins B1, B12, and D are associated with cognitive decline.

Being able to fill in at least some of the gaps with multivitamins is big news if true because of how accessible they are.

The results of this new study are consistent with another COSMOS study published last year involving 2,200 older adults. A daily multivitamin boosted overall cognition, memory recall, and attention, and once again, the effects were stronger in participants with an underlying cardiovascular disease. Both studies were randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials, the research “gold standard” for determining the efficacy of a drug.

“There is evidence that people with cardiovascular disease may have lower micronutrient levels that multivitamins may correct, but we don’t really know right now why the effect is stronger in this group,” said Brickman.

 

Limitations and Future Directions

 

The researchers don’t yet know what ingredients within the multivitamins (A, B, C vitamins and zinc) were driving the results, nor is it clear whether the results could be replicated using other multivitamin brands.

“This particular brand was selected because it is commonly used in the U.S. and has a good quality and safety record,” explained co-author Howard Sesso to NBC. Sesso added that they had previously tested a similar Centrum Silver formulation, but they found no cognitive benefit.

Experts have chimed in that prescribing multivitamins as a means to prevent cognitive decline won’t be happening just yet — longer studies are needed to confirm the results, although the current study does suggest multivitamins are harmless and potentially useful. Proper exercise and a healthy diet like the Mediterranean variation remain the preferred recommendation.

Another limitation is that, although the study included people of different races/ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, and incomes, the participants had either finished or attended college, so the generalizability of the results may be impacted.

All that aside, the study does support growing evidence for the importance of nutrition for the aging brain. Digging in further to uncover what specific nutrients derive the greatest benefits in preventing cognitive decline may be the next step, according to the authors.

“The finding that a daily multivitamin improved memory in two separate cognition studies in the COSMOS randomized trial is remarkable, suggesting that multivitamin supplementation holds promise as a safe, accessible, and affordable approach to protecting cognitive health in older adults,” commented co-author JoAnn Manson, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in a press release.

 

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