The Benefits of Vitamin B9 or More Commonly Known As Folic Acid

Folic Acid is an important B Vitamin that every women of child bearing age should be aware of.  Women who want to become pregnant should be taking a daily supplement along with foods that are rich in folate in their daily diet. This is an important vitamin that is crucial in the development of a normal healthy fetus.

Folic Acid is another of the important B Vitamin group, also called B9.  This vitamin is important in child bearing women.  Women who want to become pregnant should be taking a daily dose of this vitamin.  B9 levels drop during pregnancy due to the increase of the mother’s red blood cells breaking down in the first half of the pregnancy and because of the baby demands in the second half of the pregnancy.

The first four weeks of pregnancy are the most important to have adequate supply of  Folate, even before the mother is aware that she has become pregnant.  The proper development of the baby’s brain, skull and spinal cord relies on adequate amounts of folic acid being present in the mother’s blood.  Without the proper levels of folate in the body serious birth defects of the neural tube (spinal cord)  can occur.  Such defects as spina bifida of the spinal cord, and anencephaly (no brain or small brain) of the brain, and skull defects.

Research has also shown that taking addition folic acid during pregnancy can help to reduce the risk congenital heart defects, the development of a cleft lip, limb defects and urinary tract abnormalities.

A deficiency of folic acid during pregnancy has been attributed to the increased risk of preterm delivery, low birth weight infants, and fetal growth retardation.  If the mother has a folate deficiency, she has increased homoysteine levels in her blood, which may contribute to a spontaneous abortion, along with some pregnancy complications such as placenta abruption (detached placenta), and preeclampsia (toxiemia).

Folic acid may be attributed to reduce chromosomal defects in the sperm, which may be relevant of those men fathering a child.

Folic acid supplement could also protect the baby against disease when the mother is dealing with a disease or is taking certain medication or even smoking during the pregnancy.

Studies have shown that taking 600-800 micrograms of a synthetic folic acid either from fortified foods and/or supplements is a recommended dose.  Along with any supplement women should be eating foods high folic acid before and during their pregnancy.

Taking Vitamin B Supplements For The Treatment and Prevention Of Alzheimer’s

Taking a Vitamin  B supplement has been reported in helping the rate of brain shrinkage in the elderly population, which can be described as having problems with memory.

It has been reported that approximately 70% of people that are diagnosed with dementia have Alzheimer’s disease.  Alzheimer’s disease deals with degeneration of healthy brain cells, with declining memory and other faculties of related with memory.  This can increase the possibility with advancing age.  Other related dementia disorders are Parkinson’s disease and Vascular dementia.

Elderly people with increased levels of homocysteine, had higher levels of brain shrinkage.  Brain Shrinkage is a natural process of aging but it as been known to increase in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment, which is a kind of memory loss and forgetfulness and Alzheimer’s.  The definition of brain atrophy or brain shrinkage is the loss of cells or brain tissue.  The whole brain could shrink or just the tissue will lose neurons along with the connections between them.  Because of the atrophy there can be impairment of the brain function which can then lead to dementia.

Scientists at the University of Oxford conducted research on 168 people that were instructed to take high doses of the three Vitamin B supplement on a daily basis and discovered that taking these high dose supplements reduced brain shrinkage known to be symptoms of dementia by approximately 53 per cent.

A British Scientists team did a study the find out if large doses of Vitamin B could slow down or even stop the development of the diseases.  At the end of the study they found that those patients that took  Vitamin B supplement had up to half the rate of shrinkage of the brain as those that were taking the placebo.   Also those patients with the highest rate of brain shrinkage at the onset of the study were found to have the best improvement.  Patients that were given vitamin B supplements were also found to have higher cognitive test scores.

Another study has the suggestion that high doses of the Vitamin B – folic acid, B6 and B12 had less than 1% a year while those patients that were given the placebo had a mean brain shrinkage rate of greater than 1%.

Other studies of research subjects taking large daily doses of  the B Vitamins could halve the rate of brain shrinkage in the elder population.  The study found that by adding vitamin B supplements into your diet could reduce the chances the shrinkage of the brain by almost half of the older population with the warning signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

The 10 common warning signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease are:

• Memory loss that disrupts daily life
• Challenges in planning or solving problems
• Confusion with time or place
• Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
• New problems with words in speaking or writing
• Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
• Decreased or poor judgment
• Withdrawal from work or social activities
• Changes in mood and personality

Vitamin B12 deficiency in the over 60 population can be seen in severe memory loss, confusion, delusions, hallucinations, with degeneration of the brain and spinal cord.  B12 deficiency can also inhibit the brain’s ability to use glucose, which is needed for energy and also affects the formation of acetylcholine.  Neurological functions that are impaired can manifest as symptoms similar to dementia or Alzheimer’s .  This degeneration can be totally reversed through taking a Vitamin B12 supplement.

Having low levels of Vitamin B12 can be related asthma, depression, AIDS, MS, tinnitus, diabetic neuropathy and a low sperm count.

Only 2mcgs of Vitamin B12 are needed by the body daily to maintain good health.  But B12 is not easily absorbed, therefore large amounts are needed to be taken through diet along with supplementation.  As a population, we don’t eat a lot of organ meats like liver or kidney which are high in B12.  Dairy products contain B12 but cannot be the only source of B12 as they aren’t really high in content. Also cooking or canning of vegetables can reduce the amount of Vitamin B12 that is readily available.   Therefore you should supplement your daily intake of Vitamin B12 with an oral supplement.  The best way to take extra B12 is to take it in a sublingual preparation of 1000mcg/1mg.  Only about 1.5% of B12 is absorbed through the small intestines.

Taking long term use of an antibiotic that kills off the good bacteria in the gut can impair the absorption of Vitamin B12.  Some medication such as antacids or the use of Metformin which taken by diabetics can attribute to the decrease of absorption of Vitamin B12 by 30%.

With all the research that is being done it doesn’t hurt to be taking Vitamin B supplements, even if the results are minimal.   Anything that can be done to slow or even prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s is a great beginning.