A Cure for Dementia?

A key vitamin found in meat, fish and milk may help protect the brain as it ages, researchers have discovered.

Vitamin B12 could help stop the brain shrinking - possibly preventing memory loss in older people and dementia.

A study of 107 people aged 61 to 87 found that those with lower vitamin B12 levels in their blood were six times more likely to experience brain shrinkage compared to those who had higher levels of the vitamin.

Anna Vogiatzoglou from the department of physiology, anatomy and genetics at Oxford University, which led the study, said: "Many factors that affect brain health are thought to be out of our control, but this study suggests that simply adjusting our diets to consume more vitamin B12 through eating meat, fish, fortified cereals or milk may be something we can easily adjust to prevent brain shrinkage, and so perhaps save our memory.

"Research shows that vitamin B12 deficiency is a public health problem, especially in the elderly, so more vitamin B12 intake could help reverse this problem."

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, which helped fund the research, said: "Vitamin B12 deficiency is a common problem among elderly people and has been linked to declining memory and dementia.

"More research like this is urgently needed if we're to tackle this cruel condition."

She added that liver and shellfish were particularly rich sources of B12.

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