Researchers from the University of Oxford in England studied 107 people between the ages of 61 and 87 without memory or thinking problems. The average age of participants was 73, and 54 percent were women.
At the beginning of the study, participants underwent annual clinical exams, MRI scans, cognitive tests and had blood samples taken. When the researchers compared the results, they found that individuals with lower vitamin B12 levels had a greater decrease in brain volume.
Those with the lowest levels had a six fold greater rate of brain volume loss compared with those who had the highest levels of the vitamin. However, they were unable to investigate whether lower vitamin B12 could cause cognitive impairment by its effect on brain size.
The study suggests that people in old age should adjust their diets to get more vitamin B12 through eating meat, fish, fortified cereals, or milk. This will help to prevent brain shrinkage and memory loss, the factors associated with Alzheimer's disease and impaired cognitive function.
