Nutraceuticals and nootropics for anti-aging

Vitamin B3 consumption shows anti-Alzheimer’s effects.

Vitamin B3 (niacin) is a combination of two different compounds — nicotinic acid and nicotinamide — which are interconverted in the body, and which are essential raw materials for making NAD, a cofactor for more than 200 different metabolic enzymes.

Major B3 deficiencies (also known as ‘pellagra’) cause severe symptoms, including dementia. Looking at this in reverse, dementias caused by B3 deficiencies can be prevented or corrected by supplementing with vitamin B3. A newly published study now suggests that a non-pellagra dementia can also be prevented by vitamin B3 supplementation: namely, Alzheimer’s Disease dementia.

The study was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 6158 residents of Chicago, aged 65 years and older, were studied from 1993-2002. It was found that the participants who consumed the lowest amounts of vitamin B3 (about 12.6% mg/day) were 80% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease than those who consumed the largest amounts (about 22.4 mg/day).

Link to a news article:

Vitamin linked to Alzheimer's protection

Link to the research report:

Dietary niacin and the risk of incident Alzheimer's disease and of cognitive decline.

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By the way, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a branch of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has a large, excellent website. If you are looking for information about diseases, you should definitely include this website in your search.

Link to CDC website:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website

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LifeLink carries vitamin B3 in 100 mg tablets.