Dean Pomerleau Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 All, In another apparent micronutrient synergy involving DHA for improved brain health (see Curcumin Elevates DHA in the Brain thread for the other), this new randomized control trial [1] found that supplementing for two years with three B-vitamins (folic acid, B6 and B12) slowed the cognitive decline that often leads from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's Disease (AD), but only if the person had "high normal" levels of serum DHA at baseline: When omega-3 fatty acid concentrations are low, B vitamin treatment has no effect oncognitive decline in MCI, but when omega-3 levels are in the upper normal range,B vitamins interact to slow cognitive decline. A clinical trial of B vitaminscombined with omega-3 fatty acids is needed to see whether it is possible to slow the conversion from MCI to AD. Michael warns against CRers supplementing with DHA, but for brain health it seems that adequate DHA may be important. Curcumin might help increase DHA in the brain by boosting ALA->DHA conversion, but he's also dissed curcumin, so I'm wondering what he thinks of all this... --Dean ---------- [1] J Alzheimers Dis. 2016 Jan 6. [Epub ahead of print] Omega-3 Fatty Acid Status Enhances the Prevention of Cognitive Declineby B Vitamins in Mild Cognitive Impairment. Oulhaj A(1), Jernerén F(2), Refsum H(2,)(3), David Smith A(2), de Jager CA(4). Free full text: http://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad150777 A randomized trial (VITACOG) in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) foundthat B vitamin treatment to lower homocysteine slowed the rate of cognitive andclinical decline. We have used data from this trial to see whether baselineomega-3 fatty acid status interacts with the effects of B vitamin treatment. 266participants with MCI aged ≥70 years were randomized to B vitamins (folic acid,vitamins B6 and B12) or placebo for 2 years. Baseline cognitive test performance,clinical dementia rating (CDR) scale, and plasma concentrations of totalhomocysteine, total docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acids (omega-3 fattyacids) were measured. Final scores for verbal delayed recall, global cognition,and CDR sum-of-boxes were better in the B vitamin-treated group according toincreasing baseline concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids, whereas scores in theplacebo group were similar across these concentrations. Among those with goodomega-3 status, 33% of those on B vitamin treatment had global CDR scores >0compared with 59% among those on placebo. For all three outcome measures, higherconcentrations of docosahexaenoic acid alone significantly enhanced the cognitiveeffects of B vitamins, while eicosapentaenoic acid appeared less effective. Whenomega-3 fatty acid concentrations are low, B vitamin treatment has no effect oncognitive decline in MCI, but when omega-3 levels are in the upper normal range,B vitamins interact to slow cognitive decline. A clinical trial of B vitaminscombined with omega-3 fatty acids is needed to see whether it is possible to slowthe conversion from MCI to AD. PMID: 26757190 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholson Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Suggestion for you Dean: If you think it might be a good idea, why don't you rename this thread something like: "PREVENTING COGNITIVE DECLINE - B-vitamins + DHA" Undoubtedly cognitive decline is a major issue, and it would enhance ease of access to the information if people are encouraged to post on the topic in a single location. Rodney. PS: In my experience of its use I believe 'cheeky' to be a far closer synonym for 'irreverent' than is 'disrespectful'. However, to me 'irreverent' implies a greater degree of subtlety in the user of the irreverent remark. So I think 'irreverent' was a better fit in this case than 'cheeky'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Pomerleau Posted January 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Rodney, Suggestion for you Dean: If you think it might be a good idea, why don't you rename this thread something like: "PREVENTING COGNITIVE DECLINE - B-vitamins + DHA" Undoubtedly cognitive decline is a major issue, and it would enhance ease of access to the information if people are encouraged to post on the topic in a single location. I agree with the importance of cognitive health. But to be honest, this type of "omnibus" thread has had mixed reviews and some pushback among the moderators of these forums... The reasonable argument (it seems to me, although I didn't promote it) is that packing all the discussions of a single large health topic like "PREVENTING COGNITIVE DECLINE" into a single thread will result in very long threads, with inevitable diversions & divergences off-topic. It's the natural way these types of forums go. Instead, it has been advocated that we keep threads fairly granular and relatively narrowly-focused, with good keywords to help people search via the forum search mechanism, and via the helpful functionality the forum software provides to show related threads based on overlapping tags at the bottom of the page. If you're reading this on a desktop, you should be able to see them at the bottom of your browser window. But in case not (i.e. if you're on an android or ios device), here is what they look like via a screen capture: Notice all these other threads are quite relevant to the topic of this thread. As if by magic, but really just a result of good keyword tagging, the forum software automatically bubbles up other threads relevant to the topic of this one. Between this and the search mechanism for the forums, it seems to me (and especially to others) a better solution than having just a few omnibus threads for high-level topics. In fact, with just a few omnibus threads, tagging threads with keywords becomes a lot more difficult, since when you say add a new study and discussion of it to an omnibus thread, you need to go back and edit the first post in the thread to insert new keywords, and each thread is limited to only 10 keywords, adding further constraints.... So at least for now I'm inclined to maintain threads at a relatively granular level. P.S. I certainly didn't mean my use of 'irreverent' to be interpreted in a mean, critical or pejorative way. I meant it as a complement! But people have different interpretations for words, and we each have different levels of familiarity with the English language and its almost infinite, bizarre subtleties. --Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Scott Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 But to be honest, this type of "omnibus" thread has had mixed reviews and some pushback among the moderators of these forums... The reasonable argument (it seems to me, although I didn't promote it) is that packing all the discussions of a single large health topic like "PREVENTING COGNITIVE DECLINE" into a single thread will result in very long threads, with inevitable diversions & divergences off-topic. It's the natural way these types of forums go. Instead, it has been advocated that we keep threads fairly granular and relatively narrowly-focused, with good keywords to help people search via the forum search mechanism, and via the helpful functionality the forum software provides to show related threads based on overlapping tags at the bottom of the page. If you're reading this on a desktop, you should be able to see them at the bottom of your browser window. But in case not (i.e. if you're on an android or ios device), here is what they look like via a screen capture: Between this and the search mechanism for the forums, it seems to me (and especially to others) a better solution than having just a few omnibus threads for high-level topics. In fact, with just a few omnibus threads, tagging threads with keywords becomes a lot more difficult, since when you say add a new study and discussion of it to an omnibus thread, you need to go back and edit the first post in the thread to insert new keywords, and each thread is limited to only 10 keywords, adding further constraints.... So at least for now I'm inclined to maintain threads at a relatively granular level. Dean, Thanks for this excellent post. You have produced a number of these educational posts with great screenshots. Can you tag those posts so we can get a listing of all your meta-forum posts? They really deserve to be spotlighted with some forum heading, like FAQ or "Tips for getting the most out of this website". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Pomerleau Posted January 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Good idea Greg! I'll create a thread or post with links to all the helpful tips and tricks for getting the most from these forums. --Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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