Do Vitamins B12 reduce Parkinson's risk?

02/04/2023

Increasing intake of folate and vitamin B6 beyond recommended daily levels offers no protective benefit against Parkinson's disease (PD), a new study shows.

Though there was some evidence that vitamin B12 early in life was associated with decreased PD risk, the findings were inconsistent and were only observed in people whose daily intake was 10 times the recommended level.

The findings were published online March 20 in Movement Disorders.

The new study included 80,965 women from the Nurses' Health Study (1984-2016) and 48,837 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986-2016). The average age at baseline was 50 years in women and 54 years in men, and participants were followed for about 30 years.

Participants completed questionnaires about diet at the beginning of the study and again every 4 years.

Researchers found no link between reduced PD risk and intake of vitamin B6 or folate.

Though the total cumulative average intake of vitamin B12 was not associated with PD risk, investigators noted a modest decrease in risk between those with highest baseline of B12 and participants with the lowest baseline levels (hazard ratio, 0.80; P = .01).

Source: Medscape