Memory improvements in elderly women following 16 weeks treatment with a combined multivitamin, mineral and herbal supplement: A randomized controlled trial.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Minerals.

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to investigate the effects of 16 weeks multivitamin supplementation (Swisse Women's 50+ Ultivite ®) on cognition in elderly women.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, women only.

Participants in this study were 56 community dwelling, elderly women, with subjective complaints of memory loss.

All cognitive and haematological parameters were assessed at baseline and 16 weeks post-treatment.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Minerals group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Minerals, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Minerals could be set against what happens without it.

Cognition was assessed using a computerized battery of memory and attention tasks designed to be sensitive to age-related declines to fluid intelligence, and a measure of verbal recall.

Biochemical measures of selected nutrients, homocysteine, markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, and blood safety parameters were also collected.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Biomarkers, Dietary Supplements, Homocysteine, Inflammation Mediators, Memory Disorders, Minerals and Oxidative Stress.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Minerals.

Results are reported in around 4 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2012 (Psychopharmacology), a journal based in Germany.

More context: all human trials.