(Food-Beverage-News.Com, December 31, 2012 ) Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia that accounts for 50-80% of all reported dementia cases. It typically shows up in older patients 65 years of age and up but 40-50 year olds make up 5% of Alzheimer’s patients.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s include behavioral problems, thinking problems and memory loss. Typically Alzheimer's get worse as time goes on and can become so serious that the patient has extreme difficulty recalling events, family members or performing mundane daily tasks.
In October of 2010 Finnish researchers published by the Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology suggests that vitamin b12 can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. The seven year study tested and monitored 271 patients between the ages of 65-79 to study the correlation between B12 and Alzheimer's disease. The scientists concluded that adequate vitamin b12 reduced the risk in the elderly study group. In fact the study suggested for each unit increase in the marker of vitamin B12 (holotranscobalamin) the risk of developing Alzheimer's was reduced by 2 percent.
There are estimates that claim as many as 15-25% of Americans are deficient in B12 and as many as 40% of Americans over 60 are deficient in the vitamin. Also there are estimates claiming that 5.4 million Americans currently suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
With reported cases growing and the information gathered by the study it is critical to maintain a healthy diet that includes foods rich in b12 or to take a b12 supplement. Prevention is a far better option to treatment once you are diagnosed with the disease.
