Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia

Help Protect Your Future

An estimated 25-29 million people in the world suffer from dementia…vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease constitute the vast majority of cases.
—World Health Organization

Alzheimer’s disease is the 12th cause of death in the United States and the 8th cause of death for people aged 65 and older.
—National Center for Health Statistics

Over the next century, experts estimate that Alzheimer’s disease will be more prevalent than AIDS, cancer, and all cardiovascular diseases.
—World Health Organization

If you know someone who suffers from dementia, you know that it interferes with their ability to work, to participate in usual social activities, and to engage in healthy relationships with others.

Dementia is becoming increasingly common. And while you may be familiar with its devastating effects, you may not know that a simple, diet-related prevention may help protect you and your loved ones.

Dementia, which is the most common cause of cognitive impairment, is defined as significant memory impairment and loss of intellectual functions. Symptoms include:

• Forgetfulness
• Difficulties with familiar activities
• Language problems
• Problems with spatial and temporal orientation
• Impaired capacity of judgment
• Problems with abstract thinking
• Leaving things behind
• Mood swings and behavioral changes
• Personality changes
• Loss of initiative

The vast majority of dementia cases are one of two types: Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of memory and the progressive decline of cognitive abilities. The slow progressive destruction of nerve cells in the brain leads to Alzheimer's disease.

While it is natural to lose a certain number of nerve cells as we get older, the loss occurs much more rapidly in people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. As a result, the victim's brain cannot function normally.

In most cases, the exact cause cannot be explained.

• Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in elderly people.
• In the U.S., as many as 25% of people over 75 years of age have Alzheimer’s disease…the disease affects as many as 47% of people over the age of 85.
• More than 5 million Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease…The health care costs are a staggering $100 billion per year.

The second most frequent cause of dementia is known as vascular dementia. The condition is not a single disease but a group of syndromes relating to different vascular mechanisms.  

Just as vascular disease damages arteries and causes a buildup of plaque—which can lead to a heart attack or stroke—vascular disease can also damage the neural nets in the brain and cause cognitive decline.  

This is why the risk factors for vascular dementia—high blood pressure, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, etc.—are the same risk factors as for heart attack and stroke.

• The prevalence rate of dementia is 9 times higher in patients who have had a stroke than in controls. One year after a stroke, 25% of patients develop new-onset dementia.
• Vascular dementia has been associated with a higher mortality rate than Alzheimer’s disease because of the coexistence of other atherosclerotic diseases.

Because poor vascular health is so strongly correlated to dementia, scientists began to suspect that elevated plasma homocysteine levels—one of the main risk factors for heart disease and stroke—might also be a determinant in dementia.

What in the world is homocysteine?

More than likely, you’ve never heard of homocysteine. Although it was first described in the 1930s and its instrumental role in causing heart disease was discovered in the late 1960s, homocysteine has gone relatively unnoticed and underappreciated by the medical community—until recently. Homocysteine is an amino acid that occurs naturally in your body as it processes protein. When you ingest the essential amino acid, methionine, it must be broken down into non-essential amino acids. An essential amino acid is a protein you must have to live. A non-essential amino acid may be made from essential proteins. A very important protein, methionine, is used to make many other important proteins.

Homocysteine is used in many of the important steps your body uses to break down methionine into non-essential proteins. At the end of the cycle, homocysteine is used to recombine the “leftovers” from this process back into a little methionine. This entire process takes a lot of energy. Your body gets this energy from vitamins and other nutrients. If you don’t have enough nutrition, especially if you are B-12 deficient—either because you are not getting B vitamins from the foods you eat or because your body is not able to adequately absorb them (which happens as we age)—the methionine is not recombined and homocysteine escapes into your bloodstream. If it does, the homocysteine will eventually become toxic and will damage your arteries and brain cells.

The outcome of this toxicity is two-fold:

1.     Endothelial cell injury—infarctions
Stroke and/or heart attack

2.     Neuronal injury—degenerative diseases
Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia

Many studies have been done on the relationship between homocysteine levels and dementia, and while research does not conclusively prove the relationship, it strongly suggests that homocysteine directly promotes the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
“Plasma Homocysteine as a Risk Factor for Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease” Published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 346, No.7 Sudha Seshadri, M.D, et. al.

• One study showed that patients with clinically diagnosed dementia of Alzheimer type had significantly higher homocysteine levels than control subjects. Folate and vitamin B-12 levels were significantly lower in Alzheimer’s patients than in controls.
• An increase in the plasma homocysteine level of 5 µmol per liter increased the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 40%.
• A plasma homocysteine level greater than 14 µmol per liter doubled the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers also found that when plasma B-12 concentrations increased and homocysteine concentrations decreased, electrographic tests showed signs of improved cerebral function and improved cognitive function. Patients saw improved memory functions, less disorientation, and improved attention and processing speed after vitamin supplementation.
“Improvement of cognitive functions after cobalamin/folate supplementation in elderly patients with dementia and elevated plasma homocysteine.”
Published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Karin Nilsson, et. al.

Early detection is the primary concern for Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia patients because any antidementia treatment—including vitamin supplementation—is not likely to reverse existing neuronal damage. The most we can hope for is to slow the progression or even to alter the course of the cognitive impairment.

While additional studies must be done to assess the effect of a healthy diet on cognitive impairment, many researchers suggest vitamin supplementation—especially of the B vitamins: B-12, B-6 and folic acid—to enhance nutritional status.

There’s no question that preservation of your cognitive abilities, well into old age, is essential to your overall health status. The good news is that nutrition-related behaviors may help you maintain an optimal quality of life—well into your future.

Eat five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day, and augment your diet with a high-quality supplement like TriVita’s Sublingual B-12, B-6 & Folic Acid. Providing over 100% of the recommended daily intake for B-12, B-6 and folic acid—and delivering these nutrients directly into your bloodstream—TriVita’s Sublingual B-12, B-6 & Folic Acid can help protect you and your loved ones from Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.                                  

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