(Press-News.org) There seems to be a J-shaped curve between dietary thiamine (vitamin B1) and worsening mental acuity among cognitively healthy older people, suggests research published in the open access journal General Psychiatry.
The sweet spot seems to be a daily intake of 0.68 mg, below which there is relatively little impact. But higher daily intake was strongly associated with cognitive decline, with the optimal maintenance dose 0.6 to less than 1 mg/day, the findings show.
Thiamine is an essential water-soluble B vitamin involved in energy metabolism and brain neurotransmitter activity. Good dietary sources include whole grains, fortified breakfast cereals, legumes, liver, and salmon.
Small previously published studies suggest that high doses can improve cognitive function in people with mild cognitive impairment or early stage dementia. But it’s not clear if usual dietary intake is associated with slowing, or speeding up, cognitive decline.
To explore this further, the researchers used publicly available data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), a long term multipurpose study which began in 1989, and which included nearly half the country’s population by 2011.
In 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006, mental acuity was repeatedly assessed for cognitively healthy participants aged 55 and above. The current study is based on 3106 participants, with an average age of 63, and at least two rounds of survey data.
Information on diet was collected in each survey round, supplemented by detailed data on personal dietary intake over 24 hours on 3 consecutive days of the week, and collected in person by trained investigators. Nutrient intake was calculated using the Chinese food composition tables.
Three tests of immediate and delayed recall of a 10-word list, counting backwards from 20, and serial subtraction of 7 five times from 100, taken from the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status–modified (TICS-m), were used to evaluate verbal memory, attention, and numerical fluency, respectively.
A higher score for each item (including verbal memory [0-20 points], attention [0-2 points] and calculation [0-5 points]) indicates better cognitive function, with a global cognitive score ranging from 0 to 27 points and also a composite score ranging from -1.82 to 1.67 standard units.
The average monitoring period was nearly 6 years, during which time a J-shaped association emerged between dietary thiamine intake and the pace of decline in cognitive function over 5 years.
Average thiamine intake was 0.93 mg/day, but the threshold seemed to be a daily intake of 0.68 mg. There was no significant association with cognitive decline below this level.
But above 0.68 mg/day, each daily unit (1 mg/day) increase in thiamine intake was associated with a significant fall of 4.24 points in the global cognitive score and 0.49 units in the composite score within 5 years. Since the global cognitive score ranges from 0 to 27 points, a decline of about 4 points means a decline in cognitive function of at least 15%
These associations were stronger among those who were obese, had high blood pressure or who were non-smokers, although after further in depth analysis, the modifying effect of high blood pressure and smoking became statistically insignificant,
To further explore the optimal range of dietary thiamine for maintaining cognitive function, intake was further divided into 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 1.2 and 1.4 mg/day.
This showed that the lowest risk was associated with a thiamine intake of 0.6 to less than 1 mg/day. Similar patterns were also observed after accounting for daily intake of other B vitamins (riboflavin and niacin) and other foods, such as red or processed meat.
None of the other variables, including age, sex, alcohol consumption and dietary intake of fat, protein or carbohydrate, significantly changed the findings.
This is an observational study, and as such, can’t establish cause, acknowledge the researchers. And 24-hour dietary recall only captures information on specific days and may not be completely accurate. The study also focused on older people in China, so the findings may not be applicable to other nationalities and age groups, they add.
“Thiamine deficiency may lead to an insufficient supply of energy to the neurons of the brain and decreased acetylcholine signalling in the brain, which may impair cognitive function,” suggest the researchers, by way of an explanation for their findings.
“If substantiated by further research, our study highlights the importance of maintaining optimal dietary thiamine intake levels in the general older population to prevent cognitive decline.”
END
J-shaped curve apparent between dietary thiamine and worsening mental acuity
Sweet spot seems to be 0.68 mg/day among healthy older people to ward off decline. Optimal maintenance dose seems to be 0.6 to less than 1 mg/day
2024-02-21
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Adopting healthy lifestyle strongly linked to lower irritable bowel syndrome risk
2024-02-21
Adopting a healthy lifestyle is strongly linked to a lower risk of irritable bowel syndrome or IBS for short, finds research published online in the journal Gut.
Of the big 5 healthy behaviours, not smoking, a high level of vigorous physical activity, and getting enough sleep were independently associated with keeping the condition at bay.
Characterised by abdominal pain, bloating, and abnormal bowel habit, IBS is thought to affect up to 1 in 10 people worldwide. Exactly what causes IBS isn’t fully understood, but disordered functioning of the gut–brain ...
Avid appetite in childhood linked to later eating disorder symptoms
2024-02-21
An enthusiastic response to food in early childhood may be linked to a higher likelihood of experiencing eating disorder symptoms in adolescence, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and Erasmus University Rotterdam.
The study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, looked at survey data from 3,670 young people in the UK and the Netherlands to investigate how appetite traits in early childhood might relate to the likelihood of developing eating disorder symptoms up to 10 years later.
The researchers found that a particularly high food responsiveness, defined as the urge to eat when you see, smell ...
Red light can reduce blood glucose levels, says study
2024-02-21
The researchers found that 670 nanometres (nm) of red light stimulated energy production within mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses within cells, leading to increased consumption of glucose. In particular, it led to a 27.7% reduction in blood glucose levels following glucose intake, and it reduced maximum glucose spiking by 7.5%.
While the study was conducted in healthy individuals, the non-invasive, non-pharmacological technique has the potential to have an impact on diabetes control after meals, as it can reduce damaging fluctuations of blood glucose in the body that contribute to ageing.
The study also highlights the significant long-term consequences for human health, including ...
UT-Battelle donates $186,000 to support SEEED’s green construction program
2024-02-21
Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s managing contractor, UT-Battelle, presented a donation of $186,000 to Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development, or SEEED, to support the nonprofit’s third green solar home as part of their Green Construction Program.
“We are committed to serving the communities that we live in,” UT-Battelle CEO and ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer said. “Our partnership with SEEED has provided a tremendous opportunity to share our scientific expertise, and we are excited that our support will help make this green solar home become a reality.”
Streiffer joined SEEED for a groundbreaking ceremony in Knoxville, Tenn., at the home project ...
Spinning, magnetic micro-robots help researchers probe immune cell recognition
2024-02-21
Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago have engineered tiny, spinning micro-robots that bind to immune cells to probe their function. The robot, or “hexapod,” gives scientists a new, highly adaptable way to study immune cells and to aid in the design of immunotherapies against cancer, infection, or autoimmune diseases.
Each hexapod robot has six arms containing molecules that might be recognized as foreign by the immune system — such as protein fragments from a tumor, virus, or ...
Helping patients with low income overcome eating disorders
2024-02-21
Individuals with eating disorders who have low income are frequently misdiagnosed and lack adequate access to appropriate therapy, according to researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Their paper, published in The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist on Feb. 19, identified the barriers to care that come with having low income and offered guidelines on how therapists can make accommodations for these patients to improve diagnoses and access to treatment.
Approximately 30 million people in the United States experience ...
Preventing relapse by restoring an opioid-weakened brain pathway governing behavior
2024-02-21
Medical University of South Carolina scientists report in Neuron that they have uncovered a way to restore an opioid-weakened brain pathway in a preclinical model.
With funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, the MUSC research team, led by neuroscientist James Otis, Ph.D., used advanced neuroscience tools to return a pathway between the thalamus and basal ganglia to healthy functioning in mice. As a result, this restoration prevented mice that were opioid-dependent from seeking or self-administering heroin. Results also suggested that sustained opioid use was the cause of this weakened pathway, rather than being caused by ...
Water quality monitor, locust-inspired electronic nose under development
2024-02-21
By Beth Miller
Two teams of engineers led by faculty in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis will work toward developing products to monitor drinking water quality and to detect explosives with an electronic nose with one-year, $650,000 Convergence Accelerator Phase 1 grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Barani Raman, professor of biomedical engineering, and Daniel Giammar, the Walter E. Browne Professor of Environmental Engineering, will lead teams of researchers from Washington University and other institutions and entities funded under the NSF’s Convergence Accelerator program, designed to address national-scale ...
Child tax credits provided significant relief to families experiencing economic shocks during COVID
2024-02-21
Contact:
Jillian McKoy, jpmckoy@bu.edu
Michael Saunders, msaunder@bu.edu
##
As a proposal to reinstate expanded Child Tax Credits (CTC) in the United States awaits a vote in the Senate, a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers reveals that the now-expired 2021 CTC expansion benefitted families experiencing financial setbacks due to health or employment challenges spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published in the journal Health Affairs Scholar, the study found that monthly advance payments included in the 2021 CTC ...
Plasma scientists develop computer programs that could reduce the cost of microchips and stimulate American manufacturing
2024-02-21
Fashioned from the same element found in sand and covered by intricate patterns, microchips power smartphones, augment appliances and aid the operation of cars and airplanes. Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are developing computer simulation codes that will outperform current simulation techniques and aid the production of microchips using plasma, the electrically charged state of matter also used in fusion research. These codes could help increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process and potentially stimulate ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
From camera to lab: Dr. Etienne Sibille transforms brain aging and depression research
Depression rates in LGBTQIA+ students are three times higher than their peers, new research suggests
Most parents don’t ask about firearms in the homes their kids visit
Beer-only drinkers’ diets are worse than wine drinkers
Eco-friendly biomass pretreatment method yields efficient biofuels and adsorbents
How graph convolutions amplify popularity bias for recommendation?
New lignin-based hydrogel breakthrough for wound healing and controlled drug release
Enhancing compatibility and biodegradability of PLA/biomass composites via forest residue torrefaction
Time alone heightens ‘threat alert’ in teenagers – even when connecting on social media
Study challenges long-held theories on how migratory birds navigate
Unlocking the secrets of ketosis
AI analysis of PET/CT images can predict side effects of immunotherapy in lung cancer
Making an impact. Research studies a new side of helmet safety: faceguard failures
Specific long term condition combinations have major role in NHS ‘winter pressures’
Men often struggle with transition to fatherhood amid lack of targeted information and support
More green space linked to fewer preventable deaths in most deprived areas of UK
Immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab improves outcomes for patients with soft tissue sarcoma
A formula for life? New model calculates chances of intelligent beings in our Universe and beyond
Could a genetic flaw be the key to stopping people craving sugary treats?
Experts urge complex systems approach to assess A.I. risks
Fossil fuel CO2 emissions increase again in 2024
Winners of Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards 2024 announced
A toolkit for unraveling the links between intimate partner violence, trauma and substance misuse
Can everyday physical activity improve cognitive health in middle age?
Updated guidance reaffirms CPR with breaths essential for cardiac arrest following drowning
Study reveals medical boards rarely discipline physician misinformation
New treatment helps children with rare spinal condition regain ability to walk
'Grow Your Own' teacher prep pipeline at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette funded by US Department of Education
Lab-grown human immune system uncovers weakened response in cancer patients
More than 5 million Americans would be eligible for psychedelic therapy, study finds
[Press-News.org] J-shaped curve apparent between dietary thiamine and worsening mental acuitySweet spot seems to be 0.68 mg/day among healthy older people to ward off decline. Optimal maintenance dose seems to be 0.6 to less than 1 mg/day