Effect Of Vitamin B12 On Dementia And Cognitive Decline

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O’Leary, F., Allman-Farinelli, M., and Samman S. (2012). Vitamin B12 status, cognitive decline, and dementia: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies. British Journal of Nutrition, 108, 1948-1961.

The article aims at determining whether Vitamin B12 status has an effect on dementia and cognitive decline in older adults.

The titles covered include methods, which include selection, strategy, quality, and data extraction and synthesis. Another topic is results, which includes a summary of the conducted studies, quality assessment, and outcome of the studies. The other title is a discussion, which gives a detailed report and views about the study and its outcome. Conclusions can be drawn from the discussion, and possible solutions proposed. Lastly is the recommendations section, which acknowledges the people or institutions involved in the study.

The article mainly highlights the possibility that the low status of vitamin B12 in the body could lead to dementia and cognitive decline especially in older people. Vitamin B12 biomarkers Holotranscobalamin (HoloTC) and methylmalonic acid were used to determine the level of vitamin B12 in serum. Deficiency of vitamin B12 leads to neurological maladies such as Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline. Vitamin B12 is essential in various functions such as myelin and DNA production and serves as a cofactor in various processes. Thus, poor status of this vitamin leads to neurological disorders.

The key results revealed that some of the cohort studies were positive, showing a significant relationship between vitamin B12 and neurological maladies including AD and cognitive decline.

The article lacked adequate evidence since it did not provide conclusive information about vitamin B12 and cognitive decline association. Therefore, the article was not very helpful because it did not provide objective and reliable information.

The article suggested a possible relationship between vitamin B12 status, dementia, and cognitive decline in the older population but did not clearly outline the role of vitamin B12. It was, however, a quality study since twenty-one out of the thirty-five cohort studies were positive.

In relation to the material, in the PowerPoint slides, the article elaborates how deficiency of vitamin B12 can lead to neurological disorders experimentally. Therefore, the information provided by the slides concurred with the studies carried out. The article gave me a clear view of the relationship between vitamin B12 status, dementia, and cognitive decline through cohort studies unlike the theoretical perspective of the PowerPoint slides.