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shAARP Talk: Observations from AARP

(Category: Health and Fitness)

Alejandra Owens | September 25, 2008 | 1:49 PM
Alejandra Owens

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The New York Times reported on a new study showing that a lack of vitamin B12 intake can result in brain shrinkage for older adults.

The research study consisted of 107 individuals aged 73 who all had MRIs to measure their brain volume along with blood tests checking their B12 levels. And low and behold, the group with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 lost twice as much brain volume as those with the highest levels. Now that's a big difference.

Yet David Smith of Oxford and lead author of the study says that this doesn't necessarily mean we should be running to the vitamin store; they're waiting for results from a clinical trial which will find out definitively if vitamin B12 actually does prevent brain shrinkage.

We'll keep you posted!

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