Effects of vitamin D supplementation on cognitive function and blood Aβ-related biomarkers in older adults with Alzheimer's disease: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Their study aimed to assess the effect of a 12-month vitamin D supplementation on cognitive function and amyloid beta (Aβ)-related biomarkers in subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

METHODS: This was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. 210 AD patients were randomly divided into intervention and control groups.

Tests of cognitive performance and Aβ-related biomarkers were measured at baseline, 6 months and 12 months.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 210 patients were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

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

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Alzheimer Disease, Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases, Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor, Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases, Cognition, Dietary Supplements and Hydroxycholecalciferols.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Alzheimer’s disease, Aβpeptide, cognitive function, randomised controlled trial and vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 210 patients.

Its findings take up roughly 2 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2019 (Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.