Lack of Effect of 1 Year Intake of a High-Dose Vitamin and Mineral Supplement on Cognitive Function of Elderly Women

Abstract

Objective: To determine if long-term, high-vitamin supplementation could reverse cognitive malfunction in old people. Methods: We performed a longitudinal study relating the 12-month outcome to baseline values. Twenty non-vitamin-deficient elderly females with a Folstein mini mental state examination score indicating cognitive malfunctions were recruited to ascertain if feeding a high-dose vitamin-mineral supplement for 1 year could, by mass vitamin action, reverse some existing cognitive malfunctions. Ten females were fed a high-dose vitamin-mineral supplement pill with each of three daily meals for 1 year; the other 10 did not receive this supplementation. Twelve blood vitamin analyses and a Folstein mini mental state examination were performed for each of the 20 subjects before and after 1 year; each subject served as its own control. Results: No improvement in cognitive malfunction was noted despite elevation of blood vitamins. Conclusion: Feeding of a high-dose vitamin and mineral supplement for 1 year did not improve cognitive malfunction in non-vitamin-deficient elderly in this study.

Plasma trace elements and cognitive function in older men and women: The Rancho Bernardo study

“…Sex-specific patterns of association in the present study may help to explain the discordance between the results of two small clinical trials, one of which found improved performance (18) in a combined study of women and men supplemented with relatively small doses of iron, copper, and zinc, while the other trial which supplemented only women with high doses of the same minerals and found worsening performance on cognitive function tests (19). Large studies have not reported the role of sex in the association between trace elements and cognition (20,21).…”

“…Relatively few studies have reported the association of these minerals with performance on cognitive function tests in relatively healthy older community-dwelling men and women unselected for cognitive impairment. One small clinical trial of supplemental vitamins and minerals reported that individuals with adequate blood-nutrient concentrations performed significantly better on cognitive function tests (18), while another small trial found that high-dose vitamin and mineral supplementation did not improve cognitive performance (19). A large prospective study found that use of supplemental zinc in addition to antioxidants (vitamins A, C, or E), lowered risk of incident cognitive impairment (RR=0.66, 95% CI=0.44-1.00) and risk of cognitive decline (RR=0.71, 95% CI=0.49-1.01) (20).…”

Improved cognitive performance after dietary supplementation with a Pinus radiata bark extract Formulation

“…Although there was no response time effect in the controls taking vitamin C only, it is unclear whether the PBE alone would have demonstrated the same positive effects or whether there is a synergistic benefit when combined with vitamin C. Furthermore, accuracy measures for spatial working memory demonstrated an improvement in both treatment and control groups and it cannot be certain whether this improvement was due to practice or to a beneficial effect of vitamin C. However, the vitamin C dosage was 120 mg, a much lower dosage than has been used in other studies which have used, for example, 500 mg (Yaffe et al, 2004) or 1500 mg (Baker et al, 1999) with no demonstrated cognitive benefit. Given that with age, the response time tends to decline before accuracy and that there was no benefit in the response time for the vitamin C group, it is likely that the improvement reflects practice effects rather than the benefits of vitamin C. Nevertheless, the above limitations should be assessed in a larger study that includes a treatment group receiving only the pine bark extract.…”

Folate nutrition is related to neuropsychological functions in the elderly

“…It may be possible that some of the decline in cognitive function associated with aging is preventable or reversible with improved folate nutrition as suggested by Rosenberg et al (1992). It is interesting to note, however, that study results on the effects of folic acid supplementation on cognitive function, dementia and Alzheimer's disease have not been consistent, some showing it to be beneficial (Bryan et al, 2002; Luchsinger et al, 2007; Nilsson et al, 2001), others showing a negligible effect (Baker et al, 1999; Wahlin et al, 2008) and still others showing it to be even detrimental (Sommer et al, 2003). Further studies should explore the relationship of the state of blood B vitamins to neuropsychological function and also the possibility of improving cognition with the dietary manipulation of natural sources of food folate.…”