Vitamin Supplementation and Dementia: A Systematic Review
Nutrients 2022,14, 1033. https://doi.org/10.3390/ nu14051033
Victoria Gil Martinez 1 , Ana Avedillo Salas 2 and Sonia Santander Ballestin soniasb at unizar.es
Department of Geriatric Care, Bonifatius Hospital Lingen, 49808 Lingen, Germany; victoriiagil at gmail.com
Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Legal and Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; aave60 at hotmail.com
Background: Dementia is a syndrome characterized by progressive cognitive impairment that interferes with independent function in daily activities. Symptoms of dementia depend on its cause and vary greatly between individuals. There is extensive evidence supporting a relationship between diet and cognitive functions. This systematic review studies the efficacy of using vitamin supplements in the diet as a solution to nutritional deficiencies and the prevention of dementia and mild cognitive impairment. Methods: An intensive search of different databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane CENTRAL) was performed. Articles that were published between 2011 and November 2021 were retrieved using the mentioned search strategy. This systematic review has been conducted according to the PRISMA statement.
Results: Folic acid supplementation proved to have better outcomes on cognitive tests than their respective control groups. The combined supplementation of folic acid and vitamin B12 showed some discrepancies between studies. Thiamine as supplementation did not only prove to have a positive impact on cognitive performance when given alone but also when given in combination with folic acid. Regarding vitamin D supplementation, the results observed were not so encouraging. A concomitant supplementation of low-dose vitamin E and vitamin C was also not associated with an improvement of cognitive function.
Conclusions: The findings of this systematic review suggest that supplementation of B Complex vitamins, especially folic acid, may have a positive effect on delaying and preventing the risk of cognitive decline. Ascorbic acid and a high dose of vitamin E, when given separately, also showed positive effects on cognitive performance, but there is not sufficient evidence to support their use. The results of vitamin D supplementation trials are not conclusive in assessing the potential benefits that vitamin D might have on cognition.
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The four main ones are Alzheimer’s disease, vascular, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and Lewy body
Conclusions
- The findings of this systematic review suggest that supplementation of B Complex vitamins, especially a supplementation of folic acid, may have a positive effect on delaying and preventing the risk of cognitive decline.
- Ascorbic acid and a high dose of vitamin E also showed positive effects on cognitive performance. However, due to the small number of studies included in this systematic review about these vitamins, there is not sufficient evidence to support their use.
- Regarding vitamin D supplementation, the findings observed vary vastly among trials. This results in a lack of certainty in assessing the potential benefits that vitamin D might have on cognition.
Note: Only one study used enough Vitamin D that had a chance of making a difference
Vitamin D Life pages with DEMENTIA in title (41 as of May 2022)
This list is automatically updated
Items found: 57
| Title | | Modified |
| Vitamin D deficiency increases risk of Dementia by 1.4 X and Alzheimer’s by 1.5 X – Meta-analysis March 2024 | | 11 Mar, 2024 |
| Early-Onset Dementia 1.6X more likely if low Vitamin D - Dec 2023 | | 12 Jan, 2024 |
| Dementia (vascular) risk increase 60% if take Folate with other B vitamins - Dec 2023 | | 16 Dec, 2023 |
| The End of Alzheimer's and Dementia if adjust Vitamin D, B-12, Iron, Omega-3, etc. | | 19 Aug, 2023 |
| Seniors taking vitamin D were 40% less likely to get dementia - Jan 2023 | | 28 Jul, 2023 |
| Poor bone health is a ‘robust’ dementia risk factor (both associated with Low vitamin D) - March 2023 | | 31 Mar, 2023 |
| Dementia 2.6 X more likely if very low Vitamin D – March 2023 | | 19 Mar, 2023 |
| The Role of Vitamin D in Reducing Risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia - transcript Dr. Grant March 2023 | | 12 Mar, 2023 |
| Dementia again associated with low Vitamin D – 15th study in 10 years – Jan 2023 | | 03 Mar, 2023 |
| Neurodegenerative diseases (AD, PD, MS, Dementia, etc.) fought by Vitamin D (in rodents) – Jan 2023 | | 24 Feb, 2023 |
| How Vitamin D fights neurodegeneration (Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, etc) – Jan 2023 | | 12 Jan, 2023 |
| Alzheimer’s Dementia 2.3X more likely in elderly if low vitamin D – Dec 2022 | | 06 Jan, 2023 |
| Dementia is associated with low vitamin D - many studies | | 02 Jan, 2023 |
| Dementia 1.35 X more-likely if poor diet – Oct 2022 | | 13 Oct, 2022 |
| Doggie dementia 6.5X more likely if not get exercise (probably low vitamin D) - Aug 2022 | | 27 Aug, 2022 |
| Dementia 2X more likely after ICU (suspect low Vitamin D) - Aug 2022 | | 02 Aug, 2022 |
| Calcitriol (activated Vitamin D) increases dementia (however, regular D decreases it) – June 2022 | | 13 Jul, 2022 |
| Vitamin Supplementation and Dementia - Review May 2022 | | 11 May, 2022 |
| Lewy Body Dementia (Robin Williams) and low Vitamin D | | 11 May, 2022 |
| Dementia 10X lower in a group who are outdoors a lot and eat unprocessed foods - March 2022 | | 07 Apr, 2022 |
| Mild cognitive impairment is 3X more likely to become dementia in one year if low vitamin D – March 2022 | | 07 Apr, 2022 |
| Dementia 1.7X higher risk if diabetic and low vitamin D - Jan 2022 | | 14 Feb, 2022 |
| Dementia 4.1 X high risk in those with low Vitamin D, Omega-3, etc.2 decades before (behind paywall) – Nov 2021 | | 22 Nov, 2021 |
| Dementia reduced 26 percent after pollution was reduced a decade earlier (probably higher Vitamin D) – Aug 2021 | | 19 Aug, 2021 |
| Cognitive Impairment and Dementia often associated with low Vitamin D – April 2020 | | 08 Jan, 2021 |
| The Evidence is strong: Air pollution seems to cause dementia (perhaps low Vitamin D) – May 2019 | | 09 May, 2019 |
| Vitamin or Mineral Supplements Don’t Prevent Dementia (only one Vitamin D trial, it used 400 IU) – Feb 2019 | | 04 Feb, 2019 |
| Treating herpes reduced incidence of senile dementia by 10 X (HSV1 reduces VDR by 8X) – 2018 | | 17 Jan, 2019 |
| Why dementia gets more severe in the winter – Jan 2019 | | 14 Jan, 2019 |
| Vitamin D and neurological diseases such as stroke, Vascular Dementia, PD, MS - July 2018 | | 07 Dec, 2018 |
| Osteoporosis in men increased their risk of Dementia by 1.3 (60,000 Germans) – July 2018 | | 21 Aug, 2018 |
| Dementia – clinical trial using 4,000 IU of Vitamin D– 2023 | | 02 Aug, 2018 |
| Dementia risk increased 2.4 X following TBI, even if had not lost consciousness – May 2018 | | 12 May, 2018 |
| Dementia less likely with increased levels of Magnesium etc. | | 18 Apr, 2018 |
| 5 Traumatic brain injuries resulted in 2.8 X increased risk of dementia – April 2018 | | 11 Apr, 2018 |
| Off Topic: Dementia risk reduced 90 percent if woman had been highly fit 40 years before | | 18 Mar, 2018 |
| Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer's reduced by higher levels of Vitamin D – meta-analysis Feb 2018 | | 16 Feb, 2018 |
| Should you have a dementia advanced directive - Jan 2018 | | 19 Jan, 2018 |
| Dementia risk reduced 29 percent by just 10 hours of computer brain plasticity training – RCT Dec 2017 | | 08 Dec, 2017 |
| Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's ,Dementia, and ALS - review Nov 2017 | | 23 Nov, 2017 |
| Heart Attack increased risk of vascular dementia by 1.35 X (both associated with low vitamin D) Oct 2017 | | 15 Nov, 2017 |
| Dementia risk factor is increased by 1.5 if low vitamin D – meta-analysis Jan 2017 | | 15 Jan, 2017 |
| Dementia 19X more likely if low vitamin D – Jan 2012 | | 27 Oct, 2016 |
| The "Surprising Link" Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Dementia (nope) - Oct 2015 | | 04 Oct, 2016 |
| The "Surprising Link" Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Dementia (not a surprise) - Oct 2015 | | 04 Oct, 2016 |
| Dementia risk significantly increased if have 4 chronic diseases – all associated with low vitamin D – Sept 2015 | | 11 Dec, 2015 |
| Vascular dementia (after strokes) 32X more likely in Hypertensives with low vitamin D – Oct 2015 | | 01 Nov, 2015 |
| Dementia surprisingly associated with low vitamin D (should not a surprise) – Aug 2014 | | 03 Oct, 2015 |
| Dementia 13X more likely in elderly with low vitamin D – May 2014 | | 04 Sep, 2015 |
| Dementia risk increases with latitude (less vitamin D) - Feb 2015 | | 20 Feb, 2015 |