Vitamins and Dementia
Dementia refers to an umbrella term for neurodegenerative diseases leading to cognitive decline. The most common and widely known type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. However, other dementia types such as sporadic frontotemporal dementia and familial frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and vascular dementia also exists.
The evidence behind whether vitamin supplementation can reverse the symptoms of dementia is inconclusive. Some studies suggest that vitamin supplementation does not have any effect on cognitive abilities while others suggest otherwise.
A study by Baker et al. did not detect any improvement of cognitive functioning when observing the effects of high-dose vitamin-mineral supplementation in non-vitamin-deficient elderly [1].
However, another study found that vitamin B supplements show benefits in slowing cognitive decline, especially in patients who take vitamin B on a regular basis [2].
Further, Vitamin E supplementation is associated with a decreased risk of dementia and especially Alzheimer’s disease.
Interestingly, although Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to an increased dementia risk, whether the supplementation of Vitamin D is beneficial is up to debate. In some studies, supplementation of Vitamin D shows positive effects on cognitive abilities, whereas in others it does not [3, 4, 5, 6].