The raison d'etre of this website is to provide you with hard scientific information which may help you make informed decisions in your quest for health (so far I have blogged concise summaries of over 1,500 scientific studies and have had three books published).

My research is mainly focused on the effects of cholesterol, saturated fat and statin drugs on health. If you know anyone who is worried about their cholesterol levels and heart disease, or has been told to take statin drugs you could send them a link to this website, and to my statin or cholesterol or heart disease books.

David Evans

Independent Health Researcher

Saturday 15 September 2012

Low levels of vitamin B12 linked to brain lesions

This study was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 2009 Feb;80(2):149-57

Study title and authors:
Plasma vitamin B12 status and cerebral white-matter lesions.
de Lau LM, Smith AD, Refsum H, Johnston C, Breteler MM.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18977824

White matter lesions are small areas of dead cells found in parts of the brain that act as connectors. They also appear in some cases of migraine headaches and in the brains of those who have suffered strokes or have progressive neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

The study evaluated the association of vitamin B12 levels with white-matter lesions among 1,019 non-demented elderly participants.

The study found that low levels of vitamin B12 were significantly associated with greater severity of white-matter lesions.

Usable Vitamin B12 is only found in animal foods. The richest sources are liver, beef, lamb, eggs and seafood.