Dr. Weeks Comments: This is not news. Abram Hoffer PhD MD taught us this in the 1980s. A champion of niacin and niacinamide (Via B3) he knew about problems with methylation before most people knew the word itself. The most popular vitamin B Niacin not only protects the heart (and it does so better than statin drugs) but it also aids in the recovery of psychosis. And now we learn that “..higher methionine to homocysteine ratio may be important in reducing the rate of brain atrophy and decreasing the risk of dementia in older adults...” prevents Alzheimer’s so how to lower homocysteine? Well, another a special combination of B vitamins: Vitamin B12 with vitamin B6 and Folinic acid lowers homocysteine which prevents Alzheimer’s dementia. Alzheimer’s is an epidemic: Alzheimer’s is a fatty acid disease (the brain is made of fat/oil fatty acids) and its activities, i.e. “thinking” take place in a fatty organ. Therefore, eating bad oils (hydrogenated rancid oils) compromises our ability to think. And, more importantly, did you know that the brain has 100x more omega 6 fatty acids than omega 3 fatty acid? That is why fish oil – contrary to general myth – is BAD for your brain compared to organic and non-GMO cold pressed seed oils. Worried about losing your ability to think? Forget your lipid panel (cholesterol and triglycerides) and get your hs-CRP and homocysteine blood levels tested.
And forget the hypothesis of amalyoid plaques and tangles See new research) “…There is no denying that efforts to solve the Alzheimer’s therapy riddle have been nothing short of disastrous: billions of dollars spent and decades of time expended with few therapies to show for it. Hopes raised, then leveled; trial failure after trial failure…We can remove amyloid and there is no change in cognition…” See this link
So, eat the anti-inflammatory omega 6 organic non-GMO seeds in order to correct your methylation and since everyone agrees that Alzheimer’s and dementia are both amplified by inflammation, that is another reason to follow the anti-inflammatory diet.
Article published 3 days ago:
Association of Methionine to Homocysteine Status With Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measures and Risk of Dementia
Babak Hooshmand, MD, PhD, MPH et al
JAMA Psychiatry. Published online July 24, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.1694 FullText
Question Is methylation status (ie, methionine to homocysteine ratio) associated with incident dementia and structural brain changes in older adults?
Findings In this cohort study of longitudinal data from 2570 elderly individuals who were dementia free at baseline, a higher methionine to homocysteine ratio was observed in participants with better B12 or folate status and was associated with decreased risk of incident dementia and Alzheimer disease. A higher methionine to homocysteine ratio was associated with a decreased rate of total brain tissue volume loss during 6 years.
Meanings Markers of methylation status were associated with dementia development and structural brain changes during 6 years, suggesting that a higher methionine to homocysteine ratio may be important in reducing the rate of brain atrophy and decreasing the risk of dementia in older adults.Abstract
Importance Impairment of methylation status (ie, methionine to homocysteine ratio) may be a modifiable risk factor for structural brain changes and incident dementia.
Objective To investigate the association of serum markers of methylation status and sulfur amino acids with risk of incident dementia, Alzheimer disease (AD), and the rate of total brain tissue volume loss during 6 years.
Main Outcomes and Measures Incident dementia, AD, and the rate of total brain volume loss.
Results This study included 2570 individuals (mean [SD] age, 73.1 [10.4] years; 1331 [56.5%] female). The methionine to homocysteine ratio was higher in individuals who consumed vitamin supplements (median, 1.9; interquartile range [IQR], 1.5–2.6) compared with those who did not (median, 1.8; IQR, 1.3–2.3; P < .001) and increased per each quartile increase of vitamin B12 or folate. In the multiadjusted model, an elevated baseline serum total homocysteine level was associated with an increased risk of dementia and AD during 6 years: for the highest homocysteine quartile compared with the lowest, the hazard ratios (HRs) were 1.60 (95% CI, 1.01-2.55) for dementia and 2.33 (95% CI, 1.26-4.30) for AD. In contrast, elevated concentrations of methionine were associated with a decreased risk of dementia (HR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.36-0.81) for the highest quartile compared with the lowest. Higher values of the methionine to homocysteine ratio were significantly associated with lower risk of dementia and AD: for the fourth methionine-homocysteine quartile compared with the first quartile, the HR was 0.44 (95% CI, 0.27-0.71) for incident dementia and 0.43 (95% CI, 0.23-0.80) for AD. In the multiadjusted linear mixed models, a higher methionine to homocysteine ratio was associated with a decreased rate of total brain tissue volume loss during the study period (β [SE] per 1-SD increase, 0.038 [0.014]; P = .007).
Conclusions and Relevance The methionine to homocysteine status was associated with dementia development and structural brain changes during the 6-year study period, suggesting that a higher methionine to homocysteine ratio may be important in reducing the rate of brain atrophy and decreasing the risk of dementia in older adults.