Study: Folic Acid May Do More Harm Than Good for Patients At Risk of Alzheimer's

Folic acid supplements may actually do more harm than good for patients at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a study reported in the September issue of the Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology.

In the first study of its kind, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers compared the effects of folic acid and a placebo in 11 patients with dementia at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. All of the patients involved had low to normal folic acid levels.

Although folic acid in very high doses was found to be well tolerated by those who received it, some of their cognitive abilities were found to have actually worsened during the study.

"Larger studies are necessary before empirically administering folic acid to patients already suffering from dementia," concluded the researchers.

Other sources: Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology 2003 Sep;16(3):156-9