Daily Multivitamins Help Improve Memory in the Elderly

A new review paper from Harvard states that regular consumption of multivitamin pills regularly for three years has been shown to improve brain function in the elderly and reduce dementia risk that occurs due to stroke. Multivitamins have been shown to improve memory, cognition, planning, executive function, and other cognition-related areas of brain function.

There are many myths about multivitamin supplements circulating out there. Some people think that these supplements are a cure for all their health problems, while others think that they're useless and only provide marginal benefits. The truth is that multivitamin supplements can be helpful for several reasons. For example, they can help prevent a few minor health problems from getting worse, as well as boost the immune system and fight off infection that might occur.

Putting aside marketing claims, if we go deeper into science and research on multivitamins, conclusions are showing almost little or no effect on many disease outcomes, such as cancers, pregnancy adverse outcomes, and cardiovascular mortality prevention. Brain health is under-researched, so researchers chose to investigate the effect of certain foods and supplements to help improve dementia in the elderly.

A study was published in the journal Alzheimer's and Dementia on this topic. 2200 volunteers, aged 65 years or older, were randomly divided into three groups. The first group was given cocoa, the second group was given placebo treatment and the third was given vitamins for three years to compare and analyze the improvement in brain function.

Centrum Silver, a multivitamin brand that contains 27 vitamins, minerals, and other supplements in varying amounts, was used in this study. The test results were analyzed and the group receiving cocoa did not show any improvement in brain function, whereas the group taking multivitamins for three years, it is estimated that age-related brain function decline can be slowed up to 60%. Executive functions like planning showed significant improvement. There is memory improvement as well.

Must we all Take Multivitamins?

This study alone is not sufficient to suggest that people of all ages can take multivitamins daily. The benefits reported here for dementia may be too small to make a significant difference in real life, and the effects may be short-lived.

Indeed, a larger, longer-term, more varied randomized controlled trial targeting all the loopholes in the data is necessary to draw further conclusions.

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The results of the previous study cannot be ignored, but more data is needed to make fixed regimens of drugs (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Can a multivitamin keep your brain healthy?

Go to source).

Dietary Supplement Use in the United States

In the United States, people have been taking multivitamin/mineral (MVM) and multivitamin (MV) supplements since the early 1940s, when the products first appeared. The dietary supplements are consumed by almost one-third of all U.S. adults, and one-quarter of children and adolescents (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Prevalence of Dietary Supplement Use in US Children and Adolescents, 2003-2014

Go to source).

Estimated U.S. sales of all dietary supplements in 2020 at $55.7 billion. US preventive services task force has reviewed 90 best evidence papers on the health benefits of multivitamins. The conclusion is the role of multivitamins is supportive at the best and it is not curative or preventive in various life-threatening illnesses.

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Though multivitamins are widely used, it is sad to know that they are not regulated by a standard drug committee . Their compositions and dosages are mostly determined by manufacturers. There is still a lack of evidence in many areas. Studies should be done on various dosages, different mineral and vitamin combinations, and different populations for specific and focused conclusions on this topic.

References :

1. Can a multivitamin keep your brain healthy? - (https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-a-multivitamin-keep-your-brain-healthy-202211032845)
2. Prevalence of Dietary Supplement Use in US Children and Adolescents, 2003-2014 - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29913013/)

Source-Medindia