As our population ages, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia continue to pose significant challenges in the field of healthcare. Nearly 7 million Americans currently live with AD, and that number is expected to almost double by the year 2050. Alzheimer’s was the fifth-leading cause of death among people age 65 and older in 2021, and the costs of treating and caring for Alzheimer’s patients are expected to top $360 billion in 2024 and $1 trillion by 2050.
While there are several medications available that can help treat Alzheimer’s symptoms or slow the disease’s progression, they all come with unpleasant side effects. This has led researchers to look for promising alternative treatments that carry significantly less baggage.
Because oxidative stress—damage to cells caused by free radicals—is an underlying mechanism responsible for much age-related decline, antioxidant supplements may be one such avenue of treatment. That’s the hypothesis that a team of researchers from Japan recently set out to test. Their results were published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
To test the efficacy of a blended vitamin supplement on age-related mental decline, a team of scientists, led by Koji Fukui, PhD, of the Shibaura Institute of Technology, divided a group of 18-month-old mice into two groups. After one week of habituation, the first group received drinking water infused with Twendee X—a patented blend of eight antioxidant vitamins and other substances, including coenzyme Q10, ascorbic acid, l-glutamine, l-cystine, niacin, succinic acid, fumaric acid, and riboflavin—and the other group received plain drinking water.
The mice’s cognition, memory, and motor skills were tested using a series of maze and treadmill tests. And analysis showed that the mice given the supplement blend outperformed the placebo group on several assessments of mental acuity.
“In this study, significant improvements were observed in the spatial learning ability and short-term memory in supplement-treated aged mice. Long-term intake of blended antioxidant supplements may be effective, even considering the effects of aging and related increased oxidation in the body,” says. Fukui.
Additionally, the mice who were fed the supplement showed a higher rate of increase in running distance on the treadmill as opposed to the mice who received plain water, a result that may indicate that the supplement blend helps suppress age-related muscle decline.
“Frailty and sarcopenia are now serious problems and potent risk factors for dementia. Although the mechanism is unknown, it is groundbreaking that taking supplements may be able to prevent muscle weakness,” notes Fukui.
Conclusions
Although more research is needed, these results, the researchers say, support the use of a blended antioxidant supplement to help prevent age-related health decline. “Although many types of antioxidant supplements are available, the effect is greater if multiple types are taken simultaneously rather than one type. However, it is difficult to know which type and how much to take, as it is possible to take too many of some vitamins,” says Fukui. “We recommend only taking multivitamins that are guaranteed to be safe.”
Determining the right supplements to buy can often be challenging for consumers, which is why Fukui is determined to continue his research. Future studies on the individual effects of different antioxidants should help determine the optimum dose and composition of antioxidant supplements—and eventually lead to even more targeted therapies. “In the future, there will come a time when we will provide multi-supplements tailored to each individual,” says Fukui.
