A study in the US suggests that people: in a diet that contains more folic acid, reduce their risk of Alzheimer's disease - a senile decline in intelligence.

The study was conducted with the participation of 965 patients who had no signs of dementia and who were included in the study between 1992 and 1994. Patients were followed for 6 years, assessing the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

The average age of the participants was approximately 75.8 years; Sex composition was as follows: 70.2% of participants were women, 29.8% were men.

During the observation period, 192 patients developed a clinical picture of Alzheimer's disease. Neither a diet rich in folic acid, nor vitamin preparations alone reduced the risk of disease. Only their combination showed its effectiveness in preventing this disease.

According to the head of the study, Dr.

Jose Lachsinger, taking large doses of folic acid was associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease not directly.

Folic acid reduced the level of homocysteine, and a low level of homocysteine ??in the blood, in turn, provided this effect and a link with a lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease.

The results of this study are published on the pages of the January issue of the journal Archives of Neurology (Archives of Neurology).

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