Jan 25, 2024 13:00:00

Taking multivitamin supplements may help prevent memory and cognitive decline

Some people may be taking

multivitamin supplements containing various vitamins to supplement nutrients that tend to be lacking in their daily diet. A new study involving more than 5,000 people suggests that taking a multivitamin may help prevent memory and cognitive decline.

Effect of multivitamin-mineral supplementation versus placebo on cognitive function: results from the clinic subcohort of the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) randomized clinical trial and meta-analysis of 3 cognitive studies within COSMOS - ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002916523663427

Third Major Study Finds Evidence that Daily Multivitamin Supplements Improve Memory and Slow Cognitive Aging in Older Adults | Mass General Brigham
https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/multivitamins-improve-memory-and-slow-cognitive-aging

'Strong And Consistent Evidence' Links Multivitamins to Memory And Cognitive Benefits : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/strong-and-consistent-evidence-links-multivitamins-to-memory-and-cognitive-benefits

A research team from American medical research institutes Mass General Brigham and Columbia University conducted face-to-face cognitive tests over two years on 573 subjects over the age of 60. The subjects were divided into four groups and given various combinations of cacao extract supplements, multivitamin supplements, and placebos.

After analyzing the combination of cognitive test results and supplements taken, researchers found that multivitamin supplements were associated with statistically significant cognitive benefits and greater improvements in episodic memory.

Furthermore, the research team combined the results of this face-to-face test with two previous studies conducted by telephone and online testing on 4,630 elderly people aged 60 and older, and conducted a meta-analysis on a total of 5,203 people. I did. The researchers estimated that the multivitamin slowed cognitive aging by an average of two years compared to a placebo, as the results showed evidence that the multivitamin benefited overall cognitive performance and episodic memory. Masu.

Chirag Vyas, lead author of the paper and a psychiatrist at Mass General Brigham, said, ``A meta-analysis of three different cognitive studies shows that taking a daily multivitamin containing more than 20 essential micronutrients... 'We show strong and consistent evidence that this helps slow memory loss and cognitive aging.'

Although the results of this study are not large enough to prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers believe they are large enough to claim that multivitamin supplements offer health benefits. It has also been pointed out that the study was limited by the lack of ethnic diversity among the subjects and that all subjects were over 60 years old, so it is unclear whether similar results would be obtained in other groups. More research is needed to find out.

Also, at the time of writing, it is not known which nutrients contained in multivitamin supplements have the greatest effect on the brain. In the future, the research team would like to further explore the mechanisms by which multivitamins affect cognitive performance.

'Looking at nutrition and other age-related factors, we found that taking a daily multivitamin supplement can reduce memory and cognitive decline,' said Howard Sesso, an epidemiologist at Mass General Brigham. It is important to understand the mechanisms that prevent this.'

'Cognitive decline is one of the biggest health concerns for most older adults,' said Vyas. 'Taking a daily multivitamin supplement is an attractive and accessible way to slow cognitive aging.' It has the potential to be a promising approach.'