2023-05-25 08:47:49
A new scientific study found an improvement in memory in the elderly who took multivitamin tablets on a daily basis, according to the Network “.CNNnews.
The study involving 3,560 people over the age of 60 showed a “slight improvement in memory” for those who took multivitamins daily for 3 years, compared to those who took a placebo.
Before the experiment, study participants were asked to memorize 20 words that were displayed on a computer with a 3-second interval between each word. Immediately afterwards, the participants were asked to write down all the words they could remember to measure their memory.
After a year, the experiment was repeated for the participants, as the results revealed that the people who continued to take the multivitamin daily were able to remember an additional word, on average, compared to the people who got the placebo.
And published the studyWednesday, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study’s lead author, Adam Brickman, a professor of neuropsychology at the Top Institute for Alzheimer’s Disease and Brain Aging Research in New South Wales, said the improvement in memory remained for the duration of the study and was stronger for people with a history of cardiovascular disease.
The new findings mirror an earlier study published in September 2022, which found improvements in memory, general cognition, and attention for people taking multivitamins, especially those with a history of cardiovascular disease.
A 2022 study was conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“This is an interesting study,” said Jeffrey Linder, chair of the department of internal medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, who was not involved in the study.
However, Linder said, “I’m also concerned that taking a multivitamin could distract people from doing things we know are more beneficial to cognitive function, like eating right, exercising, maintaining social relationships, and getting good sleep.”
In the same vein, it will be difficult to know whether such a small change will improve a person’s life, says Alzheimer’s disease researcher Richard Isaacson, a preventive neurologist at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida.
Isaacson, who was not involved in the new study, said the findings are “in line with my motto that ‘there are no magic pills’ to prevent cognitive decline.”
He added: “In my clinic, we check blood nutrient testing on a subjective basis, and in doing so we tend not to recommend multivitamins because we address individual deficiencies.”
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