Publication year
2014Author(s)
Number of pages
9 p.
Source
Neurology, 83, 23, (2014), pp. 2158-2166ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor

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Organization
SW OZ DCC NRP
Medical Psychology
Journal title
Neurology
Volume
vol. 83
Issue
iss. 23
Languages used
English (eng)
Page start
p. 2158
Page end
p. 2166
Subject
DI-BCB_DCC_Theme 3: Plasticity and Memory; Neuropsychology and rehabilitation psychology; Radboudumc 1: Alzheimer`s disease DCMN: Donders Center for Medical Neuroscience; Neuro- en revalidatiepsychologieAbstract
OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of 2-year folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation on cognitive performance in elderly people with elevated homocysteine (Hcy) levels. METHODS: This multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial included 2,919 elderly participants (65 years and older) with Hcy levels between 12 and 50 micromol/L. Participants received daily either a tablet with 400 microg folic acid and 500 microg vitamin B12 (B-vitamin group) or a placebo tablet. Both tablets contained 15 microg vitamin D3. Data were available for global cognitive functioning assessed by Mini-Mental State Examination (n = 2,556), episodic memory (n = 2,467), attention and working memory (n = 759), information processing speed (n = 731), and executive function (n = 721). RESULTS: Mean age was 74.1 (SD 6.5) years. Hcy concentrations decreased 5.0 (95% confidence interval -5.3 to -4.7) micromol/L in the B-vitamin group and 1.3 (-1.6 to -0.9) micromol/L in the placebo group. Cognitive domain scores did not differ over time between the 2 groups, as determined by analysis of covariance. Mini-Mental State Examination score decreased with 0.1 (-0.2 to 0.0) in the B-vitamin group and 0.3 (-0.4 to -0.2) in the placebo group (p = 0.05), as determined by an independent t test. CONCLUSIONS: Two-year folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation did not beneficially affect performance on 4 cognitive domains in elderly people with elevated Hcy levels. It may slightly slow the rate of decline of global cognition, but the reported small difference may be attributable to chance. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class I evidence that 2-year supplementation with folic acid and vitamin B12 in hyperhomocysteinemic elderly people does not affect cognitive performance.
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- Academic publications [227437]
- Faculty of Medical Sciences [86157]
- Faculty of Social Sciences [28417]
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