This is the second such multivitamin clinical study, A study on the effects of COCOA supplements and multivitamins (COSMOS) Larger studies investigating the health effects of certain dietary supplements have been conducted to reach the same conclusion.
A new study found that a group that took a multivitamin experienced an estimated 3.1 years less memory loss than a control group that took a placebo. In other words, the multivitamin group was an estimated 3.1 years ‘younger’ in terms of memory function than the placebo group.
“This is a very important finding because older people are very concerned with maintaining cognition and memory,” he said. Joan Mansondirector of Brigham’s Department of Preventive Medicine, and co-leader of the study howard sesso, Deputy Director of the Department. “They are looking for safe and effective prevention strategies. The fact that two separate studies reached similar conclusions is noteworthy.”
Manson, who is also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the supplement’s benefits were “substantial.”
But she stressed that dietary supplements “are never a substitute for a healthy diet or a healthy lifestyle.”
The study used Centrum Silver, a commonly available multivitamin, but “we think any high-quality multivitamin will likely give similar results,” Manson says. Stated. Content of Centrum Silver Vitamins D, A, B12, thiamine, riboflavin, manganese and other substances.
Manson and Ceso reported a grant to their agency from Mars Edge, a division of the food company Mars. Mars Edge focuses on nutritional research and produces the dietary supplement cocoa beer. Several of the 10 study authors also reported financial support from the National Institutes of Health.
Mars Edge and Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (now Hareon), makers of Centrum Silver, donated multivitamin and placebo tablets and packages. COSMOS is also supported by his NIH grant.
Sesso also reported grants from supplement company Pure Encapsulations and biopharmaceutical company Pfizer. Honoraria or travel support for speaking from the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the trade body for the dietary supplement industry. chemical company, BASF. the NIH (National Institutes of Health; and the American Academy of Nutrition, a group focused on nutritional research.
Multivitamins are already popular with older Americans. 39 percent of adults over the age of 60 Take a multivitamin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Sales of multivitamins and multivitamins with minerals in the US totaled approximately $8 billion in 2020according to the NIH.
Memory effect of multivitamin lasts for 3 years
The current study involved more than 3,500 participants aged 60 and older who completed annual web-based assessments of memory and cognition for three years. Tasks were word recall, new object recognition, and a measure of executive control.
The study found that compared to a placebo group, participants who received a multivitamin supplement at random had significantly improved performance in immediate word recall after one year, and the effect persisted over two years of follow-up. It says.
However, the study showed that multivitamin use “did not significantly affect memory retention, executive function, or recognition of new objects” when compared to placebo use.
Brain health experts believe that the brain, like any other organ in the body, needs nutrients to function optimally, and lack of nutrients can impair cognitive function, so take a multivitamin. Of particular importance, he said, are the findings that can help with memory and cognition.
“This study is groundbreaking,” said Andrew Budson, professor of neurology at Boston University and chief of cognitive-behavioral neurology at the VA Boston Health Care System, who was not involved in the study.
Low levels of vitamin B1 (also known as thiamine) have been linked with vitamin B12 and vitamin D to cognitive decline, he said. “It’s very interesting that a simple multivitamin can slow cognitive decline during normal aging, because it’s something that almost everyone can do,” Budson said.
Paul E. SchultzProfessor of Neurology and director of the Center for Neurocognitive Disorders at UT Health Houston’s McGovern School of Medicine, said the brain needs large amounts of vitamins and minerals to function properly. “Think of a complex engine that requires a lot of special parts and needs all of them,” said Schultz, who was also not involved in the study. “We regularly see people who are deficient in these and who are cognitively impaired.”
Inhibition of cognitive aging
Before studyThe study, conducted by scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, was published this fall in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia. Cognitive aging was slowed by 60 percent in the multivitamin group compared to the placebo group.
The two studies were independent of each other and had different designs.But importantly, both Randomized placebo-controlled clinical trialthe “gold standard” of research in determining the effectiveness of drugs and treatments, making a direct link between cause and effect.
“This is probably the best evidence that you are taking a multivitamin,” he said. Donald HensrudA nutrition expert at the Mayo Clinic, but was not involved in the research. “Randomized controlled trial, good study.”
Interestingly, both studies suggested that participants who benefited the most may have had a history of cardiovascular disease, the researchers said.
“It’s most interesting because this same finding was replicated in two studies with different designs and no overlapping participants,” said Professor Manson, noting that the heart disease patients were undernourished at the start of the study. I guessed not. “Improvements may have been easier to detect because we may have started at a lower threshold,” she says.
Across the COSMOS trial, which included studies, the side effects of multivitamin use were lower rates of abdominal pain, diarrhea, rash, and bruising, but increased rates of gastrointestinal bleeding compared with placebo.
Future research on multivitamins
Study subjects included people of various races, ethnicities, education levels, socioeconomic status, and household incomes. “However, as is the case for volunteers in any randomized clinical trial, participants were slightly more educated, slightly higher socioeconomic status, and more diverse than the cross section of US adults in these age groups. It tended to be low,” Manson said. .
The researchers said future research should examine whether the results apply to a more diverse set of participants, including those with lower levels of education and socioeconomic status. That’s because “we may find that the benefits are even greater in low-income, low-quality populations.” Diet,” Manson said.
The researchers said additional research should also seek to identify the most beneficial nutrients and the specific mechanisms involved.
