An international team studied more than 250 people with mild cognitive impairmenthave now found that having higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in your body could boost the B vitamins’ effect. At the start of the study, each person was given a set of tests to measure their cognition, and had a blood test to determine the levels of two Omega-3 fatty acids. The participants were split into two randomly-selected groups, who received either a B-vitamin supplement or a placebo pill over two years.
Dr Abderrahim Oulhaj said: ‘We found that for people with low levels of Omega-3, the vitamin supplements had little to no effect. But for those with high baseline Omega-3 levels, the B vitamins were very effective in preventing cognitive decline compared to the placebo. This result complements our previous finding that B vitamins slow the rate of brain atrophy in MCI only in those with a good Omega-3 level to start with.’ Encouragingly, these findings suggest that for some older people a combination of fish oil supplements and B vitamins may help to improve thinking and memory.