Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause a dementia that is similiar to Alzheimer's Disease. Vitamin B12 deficiency often goes undetected because the low range lab values are set too low, and one can have B12 deficiency in the absence of other hematologic findings. More info in B12 Diagnostics. This is an easy base to cover, and I hope everyone with dementia or early Alzheimers diagnosis cover these simple bases because of the possibility of diagnostic confusion.


High-dose vitamin B12 for at-home prevention and reversal of Alzheimer's disease and other diseases - Townsend Letter May 2006

Familial Alzheimer's disease and vitamin B12 deficiency - Age and Ageing July 1994


Vitamin B12: Suprising New Findings - LE Magazine Dec 2000

Relation of Higher Folate Intake to Lower Risk of Alzheimer Disease in the Elderly
http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/con...stract/64/1/86


Nutrtional Healing on Dementia/Alzheimers:
http://www.nutritional-healing.com.a...FAlzheimer%27s


PubMed abstracts:

It was possible to detect, both in patients with MCI (1.5% and in patients with dementia (3.5%, a non-significant difference), abnormal metabolic values, indicating poorly controlled diabetes, renal failure, hyponatremia, folate or vitamin B12 deficiency and hyperthyroidism, which correction led to clinical improvement. The majority (62.5% of these alterations were previously unknown.
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
The use of laboratory tests in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment. PMID: 16988482 Nov 2006

Depending on the biochemical criterion that is used, 5% to more than 20% of older adults have marginal or frank vitamin B12 deficiency.
What is an adequate dose of oral vitamin B12 in older people with poor vitamin B12 status?
PMID: 16958314 Aug 2006

Clinical relevance of low serum vitamin B12 concentrations in older people: the Banbury B12 study. PMID: 16709605 July 2006

These findings suggest that cobalamin deficiency may cause a reversible dementia in elderly patients. This dementia may be differentiated from that of Alzheimer's disease by a thorough neuropsychological evaluation.
Neuropsychology of vitamin B12 deficiency in elderly dementia patients and control subjects. PMID: 15681626 March 2005

Depression, B12 deficiency, and hypothyroidism should be screened for and treated in patients with dementia.
A synopsis of the practice parameters on dementia from the american academy of neurology on the diagnosis of dementia. PMID: 16553467 Jan 2004

JCC, thank you for the information . It would have been very good to have known this 10+ years ago when we first learned MIL was dx'ed with Alzheimer's Disease.

In fact, I was hunting something to help me learn more about caring for an Alzheimer's patient when I ran across the old MGH chats and forums we know call BrainTalk. To me this forum is for those that are caring for one with Alzheimer's & dementia.

Of course we want to take care of our LO's the best we know how, so the information you have posted will be helpful to all of us. My MIL is now in a Nursing Home but we still are involved in her meds just to mention one.

As Husband said, he did not GIVE his mom to them, he pays them to take care of her. One or both of us go to her care planning etc. also this is when they discuss her meds. . I will share this with him and possibly we will find some things to help her, but she is in advanced stage with the Alz. It would be great if we could find some things to possibly help her have a better quality of the days she has left. It truely is a heartbreaking Disease.

I'm sure there are others that have these same needs to help care for their LO's. Thank you for the time you put into this, I'm sure we will all find something helpful. Jo

Hi Jo,

I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL.

Yes, this is something obviously best considered early in the diagnosis process. B12 deficiency does have a genetic component when caused by Pernicious Anemia, and I've read about 10% of Alzheimers disease is considered familial, so this may be an important consideration for other family members to keep tucked away in the awful event another family member would be affected. Vitamin B12 deficiency, left untreated, is neurodegenerative and can lead to death...and it frequently goes undetected.

My hope is that perhaps some people who are in the early stages of the diagnosis/disease themselves, or have a family member or friend in early stages of disease, might read this before it is too late. I realize that anyone with late stage AD won't likely be reading here, or helped by this information.

I've watched my best friend just go through losing her her mother with AD, and my SIL lost her Grandma with AD a couple of years ago. It seems everyone knows somebody affected.

Again, I'm so sorry your family is dealing with this on such an intimate level.

Cara

Thank you Cara. Yes, it does seem their are more with Alzheimer's D. as well as dementia. What struck me recently is the fact they are dx'ing more & more early on-set. It would be wonderful to find some cures or just something that will slow it down.
I was amazed at one of the patients on BT had Alzh., she said how long she had had it,but I have forgotten. This makes the red flags flying for me

She said when her Dr. visits came around she was the one to talk with the DR, She and the Dr. together decided on which meds. Then the change would always be her decission. She was amazinly lucid. I can see where those very things would be of help the patient.

I was the one to take MIL to the neuro that dx'ed her . She didn't like me anymore. She knew what the Dr. was saying, She started crying before we left. Told me the Dr. said she was crazy.

Hubbies syblings would not let anybody speak of it around her, now I think that was cruel.