any studies that link a vegan diet to Alzheimers

**B7emm** · 07-26-2009, 01:13 PM

A small town close to home happens to be the home of the adventist comunity. for those who don't know the andventist people do not eat meat meany are ovo-lacto vegetariens but meany are vegin espechly the older people out of the people over 60 that are vegin some thing like 52% have some form of alzheimers. Is this dirrectly conected to the diet that vegins fallow? any thoughts?

**Tatyana** · 07-26-2009, 01:20 PM

No, it is more likely to be a genetic link.

**freak** · 07-26-2009, 01:51 PM

there could be nerve damage in some vegans due to B12 deficiency. best sources of B12 are meat products. B12 is also needed to activate folate, so there could be a compounding problem.

B12 maintains the myelin sheath of nerves so, deficiency causes nerve degeneration the progresses to paralysis if left untreated. the B12 deficiency (possibly compounded with folate deficiency) also causes hypoblastic anemia... nutrition is quite possibly the problem here.

**RDFinders** · 07-26-2009, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by freak

there could be nerve damage in some vegans due to B12 deficiency. best sources of B12 are meat products. B12 is also needed to activate folate, so there could be a compounding problem.

B12 maintains the myelin sheath of nerves so, deficiency causes nerve degeneration the progresses to paralysis if left untreated. the B12 deficiency (possibly compounded with folate deficiency) also causes hypoblastic anemia... nutrition is quite possibly the problem here.

most vegans do not have issues with B12 def. that has been documented. lots of products are fortified with B12 now.

kind of hard to say that a vegan diet is related to the higher incident of alzheimer's. you would have to look at the length of time one was a vegan to try and make a relationship of cause and effect. two - you have to have a control group, and three a group who has been exclusively vegan sense birth to really make a case against it. if the numbers showed that there is a link.

**freak** · 07-26-2009, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by RDFinders

most vegans do not have issues with B12 def. that has been documented. lots of products are fortified with B12 now.

i wasnt saying that B12 deficiency was the cause, i was saying that for SOME it may be a possibility. especially the older people that may have decreased amounts of intrinsic factor. also those who dont follow a balanced or adequate diet.

**RDFinders** · 07-26-2009, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by freak

i wasnt saying that B12 deficiency was the cause, i was saying that for SOME it may be a possibility. especially the older people that may have decreased amounts of intrinsic factor. also those who dont follow a balanced or adequate diet.

no problem. i also have a book that discusses excitotoxins, which may be contributing factor. msg and its derivatives are known for killing dendrites and veggie food has lots of it in along with regular american type foods. that could be a link, but still the study would have to be designed to illustrate the link. then it would be more about ingredients vs the lifestyle.

**freak** · 07-26-2009, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by RDFinders

no problem. i also have a book that discusses excitotoxins, which may be contributing factor. msg and its derivatives are known for killing dendrites and veggie food has lots of it in along with regular american type foods. that could be a link, but still the study would have to be designed to illustrate the link. then it would be more about ingredients vs the lifestyle.

interesting, i seem to remeber reading a post of yours stating that you are a vegetarian. what made you decide to be a vegetarian??

**TPT** · 07-26-2009, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by RDFinders

most vegans do not have issues with B12 def. that has been documented. lots of products are fortified with B12 now.

kind of hard to say that a vegan diet is related to the higher incident of alzheimer's. you would have to look at the length of time one was a vegan to try and make a relationship of cause and effect. two - you have to have a control group, and three a group who has been exclusively vegan sense birth to really make a case against it. if the numbers showed that there is a link.

yes, that is what i meant by "sort of" in the protein thread. the lack of experimental control not withstanding- people have hypothesized that vegans have vit b12 deficiency because of their rigid diets. http://www.vitaminasdelaaalaz.com/salalectura/referencia%2029.pdf

vit b12 or folic acid defieciency can contribute to cardiovascular disease including hyperhomocystienemia. the following study published in new england wasnt experimentally controlled though still provided useful information for plausible risk factors. http://www.bu.edu/alzresearch/team/f...riNEJM2002.pdf

**RDFinders** · 07-26-2009, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by freak

interesting, i seem to remeber reading a post of yours stating that you are a vegetarian. what made you decide to be a vegetarian??

it was a spiritual choice to give up meat and animal derived ingredients. been on this path for over 7 years now.

Originally Posted by ThePhysicalTherapist

yes, that is what i meant by "sort of" in the protein thread. the lack of experimental control not withstanding- people have hypothesized that vegans have vit b12 deficiency because of their rigid diets. http://www.vitaminasdelaaalaz.com/salalectura/referencia%2029.pdf

vit b12 or folic acid defieciency can contribute to cardiovascular disease including hyperhomocystienemia. the following study published in new england wasnt experimentally controlled though still provided useful information for plausible risk factors. http://www.bu.edu/alzresearch/team/f...riNEJM2002.pdf

research design is big business if you have the foundation with statistics and how to construct studies to control for limitations as much as possible. with regards to B12 and folic acid def, it stands to reason why the elderly have so many cardiovascular issues.

**TPT** · 07-26-2009, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by RDFinders

it was a spiritual choice to give up meat and animal derived ingredients. been on this path for over 7 years now.

research design is big business if you have the foundation with statistics and how to construct studies to control for limitations as much as possible. with regards to B12 and folic acid def, it stands to reason why the elderly have so many cardiovascular issues.

nice. im an experimental scientist myself. however, with a preference for single-subject experimental designs. forget that group stuff. no such thing as the "hypothetical-average" person. lol.

**B7emm** · 07-26-2009, 03:33 PM

Thank you all for the replies this is something very personal to me my step-grandfather who was the head minister of the adventist Church has developed Alzheimer's along with a large group of the vegan Church members over 60. Out of the 30 or so members of my family also my step-mothers family who are vegan half or more have developed Alzheimer's or some form of dementia. Most of the older people in the Church do not take any vitamins or supplements of any kind for fear of animal protein contamination. because the theology of the religion prohibits consuming animal products.

**freak** · 07-26-2009, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by B7emm

Thank you all for the replies this is something very personal to me my step-grandfather who was the head minister of the adventist Church has developed Alzheimer's along with a large group of the vegan Church members over 60. Out of the 30 or so members of my family also my step-mothers family who are vegan half or more have developed Alzheimer's or some form of dementia. Most of the older people in the Church do not take any vitamins or supplements of any kind for fear of animal protein contamination. because the theology of the religion prohibits consuming animal products.

this is their repayment for a life time of commitment, a just god indeed.

**RDFinders** · 07-26-2009, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by ThePhysicalTherapist

nice. im an experimental scientist myself. however, with a preference for single-subject experimental designs. forget that group stuff. no such thing as the "hypothetical-average" person. lol.

lol. i love doing the experiments. it is so much fun building the study, but you must have a very good statistician. but with the complexities of the areas of interest, single groups are going to be unrealistic in truly finding out what is going on. it would be nice though. but we are just too complex of creatures for that.

**TPT** · 07-26-2009, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by B7emm

Thank you all for the replies this is something very personal to me my step-grandfather who was the head minister of the adventist Church has developed Alzheimer's along with a large group of the vegan Church members over 60. Out of the 30 or so members of my family also my step-mothers family who are vegan half or more have developed Alzheimer's or some form of dementia. Most of the older people in the Church do not take any vitamins or supplements of any kind for fear of animal protein contamination. because the theology of the religion prohibits consuming animal products.

and thanks for sharing.

**TPT** · 07-26-2009, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by RDFinders

lol. i love doing the experiments. it is so much fun building the study, but you must have a very good statistician. but with the complexities of the areas of interest, single groups are going to be unrealistic in truly finding out what is going on. it would be nice though. but we are just too complex of creatures for that.

ohh dont get me started single vs group designs! lol. i actually have applied stats for one of studies with over 200 subjects. came out alright- if you care about "averages." lol.