Homocysteine and cognitive impairment; a case series in a General Practice setting

BACKGROUND: An elevated blood level of homocysteine is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia. Homocysteine can be lowered by folate and/or vitamin B(12 )supplementation; antioxidants might also be required for optimal reduction in neurovascular tissue. This report presents clinical and...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: McCaddon, Andrew
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2006
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1395322/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16480506
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-5-6
_version_ 1782126946519351296
author McCaddon, Andrew
author_facet McCaddon, Andrew
author_sort McCaddon, Andrew
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: An elevated blood level of homocysteine is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia. Homocysteine can be lowered by folate and/or vitamin B(12 )supplementation; antioxidants might also be required for optimal reduction in neurovascular tissue. This report presents clinical and radiological findings from administering the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine together with B vitamins to cognitively impaired patients with hyperhomocysteinaemia. METHODS: A case series (n = 7) performed in a semi-rural General Practice setting. Formal cognitive assessments were performed in five patients, and radiological assessments in one patient, before and after supplementation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The addition of N-acetylcysteine resulted in subjective clinical improvement in all patients, and an objective improvement in cognitive scores in five patients. One patient had radiological evidence of halted disease progression over a twelve month period. CONCLUSION: N-acetylcysteine, together with B vitamin supplements, improves cognitive status in hyperhomocysteinaemic patients. Randomized controlled clinical trials are required to formally evaluate this treatment approach.
format Text
id pubmed-1395322
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2006
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-13953222006-03-09 Homocysteine and cognitive impairment; a case series in a General Practice setting McCaddon, Andrew Nutr J Case Report BACKGROUND: An elevated blood level of homocysteine is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia. Homocysteine can be lowered by folate and/or vitamin B(12 )supplementation; antioxidants might also be required for optimal reduction in neurovascular tissue. This report presents clinical and radiological findings from administering the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine together with B vitamins to cognitively impaired patients with hyperhomocysteinaemia. METHODS: A case series (n = 7) performed in a semi-rural General Practice setting. Formal cognitive assessments were performed in five patients, and radiological assessments in one patient, before and after supplementation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The addition of N-acetylcysteine resulted in subjective clinical improvement in all patients, and an objective improvement in cognitive scores in five patients. One patient had radiological evidence of halted disease progression over a twelve month period. CONCLUSION: N-acetylcysteine, together with B vitamin supplements, improves cognitive status in hyperhomocysteinaemic patients. Randomized controlled clinical trials are required to formally evaluate this treatment approach. BioMed Central 2006-02-15 /pmc/articles/PMC1395322/ /pubmed/16480506 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-5-6 Text en Copyright © 2006 McCaddon; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Case Report
McCaddon, Andrew
Homocysteine and cognitive impairment; a case series in a General Practice setting
title Homocysteine and cognitive impairment; a case series in a General Practice setting
title_full Homocysteine and cognitive impairment; a case series in a General Practice setting
title_fullStr Homocysteine and cognitive impairment; a case series in a General Practice setting
title_full_unstemmed Homocysteine and cognitive impairment; a case series in a General Practice setting
title_short Homocysteine and cognitive impairment; a case series in a General Practice setting
title_sort homocysteine and cognitive impairment; a case series in a general practice setting
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1395322/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16480506
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-5-6
work_keys_str_mv AT mccaddonandrew homocysteineandcognitiveimpairmentacaseseriesinageneralpracticesetting