research news Chocolate consumption and stroke in men
Vitamin B-12 and folate deficiencies predict cognitive decline This prospective epidemiological study investigated the cognitive significance of low plasma vitamin B-12 concentrations and the role that folate status plays. The authors evaluated vitamin B-12 and folate during an 8-year period. The Framingham Heart Study was used to provide data for analysis. Five hundred forty-nine individuals with a mean age of 74.8 were studied. The measurements included a mini-mental status examination (MMSE), plasma folate, vitamin B-12, methylmalonic acid, homocystieine, demographic factors, and body mass index. The results showed that MMSE scores declined by 0.24 points
per year over the follow-up period. The decline was significantly faster in cohort members who were in the bottom two plasma vitamin B-12 quintile categories. No cognitive advantage was associated with plasma vitamin B-12 in higher categories. In those with lower vitamin B-12 levels, a plasma folate concentration greater than 20.2 nmol/L was associated with a 1-point per year decline, as was the use of supplemental folate. The authors conclude that plasma vitamin B-12 levels from 187 to 256.8 pmol/L predict cognitive decline. In addition, having vitamin B-12 levels in this range or below with high plasma folate or using supplemental folate predicts rapid cognitive decline. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2012;60(8):1457-64.PMID: 22788704
Recovery of probiotic in tonsil tissue after oral administration This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted to determine whether consumption of probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (GG) would lead to the recovery of GG in tonsil tissue. After 3 weeks’ daily consumption of GG as a single strain (twenty patients), GG as a part of a multispecies combination (17 patients) or placebo (20 patients), tonsil tissue samples were collected from fifty-seven young adults during tonsillectomy due to chronic or recurrent tonsillitis. Strain-specific real-time PCR was used to detect GG in the tonsil tissue. GG was recovered in the tonsil sample of 40% of the subjects in the GG group, 41% in the multispecies group and 30% in the placebo group. In all subjects with positive recovery of GG in the tonsil tissue, GG was also recovered in the fecal sample taken at the start of the intervention and at the time of the tissue sample collection, which indicates more persistent adherence of the probiotic. Therefore, the results of this study demonstrate that GG can be recovered from tonsil tissue after oral administration as a single-strain probiotic or as a part of a multispecies probiotic combination. Br J Nutr. 2012 Oct 24:1-7. PMID: 23092692
This prospective cohort and metaanalysis investigated the association between chocolate consumption and the risk of stroke in men and conducted a meta-analysis to compile the available evidence from prospective studies. 37,103 men were followed prospectively in the Cohort of Swedish Men. A food-frequency questionnaire was used at baseline to assess for chocolate consumption. Cases of first
stroke were obtained from the Swedish Hospital Discharge Registry. For the meta-analysis, pertinent studies were identified using PubMed and EMBASE databases. Study-specific results were combined using a randomeffects model. The results of the study showed that during 10.2 years of followup, there were 1,995 incident cases of stroke, including 1,511 cerebral infarctions, 321 hemorrhagic strokes, and 163 unspecified strokes. It was found that high chocolate consumption was associated with a lower risk of stroke. The multivariable relative risk of stroke comparing the highest quartile of consumption (62.9g/week) with the lowest (0g/week) was 0.83 (95% CI 0.70-0.99). This did not differ by stroke subtypes. In the meta-analysis of 5 studies, the overall relative risk of stroke for the highest versus lowest category of consumption was 0.81 (95% CI 0.730.90), suggesting moderate chocolate consumption may lower stroke risk. Br Dent J. 2012;213(11):559. PMID: 23222329
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