- Explain to interested patients that folic acid(Drug information on folic acid) supplementation may benefit cognitive function among older adults who have poor folate status.
- Inform interested patients that in the United States, where grain is fortified with folic acid, less than 1% of the population may have inadequate folate status.
WAGENINGEN, The Netherlands, Jan. 19 -- Folic acid supplementation appears to improve cognitive function, particularly memory, among older adults with poor folate status, Dutch researchers said.
Three years of daily 800 ?g folic acid orally bestowed on patients the equivalent of a 4.7- to 6.9 years of younger memory, reported Jane Durga, Ph.D., of Wageningen University here, and colleagues, in the Jan. 20 issue of The Lancet.
These results follow on the heels of an observational study in New York that found a weak link between higher folate levels and a lowered risk of Alzheimer's disease in older Americans.
However, Dr. Durga and colleagues said it is unclear whether the cognitive benefits they found would yield a similar end result.
