The DOI matches its Crossref record; 18 of the 20 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Low folate levels in the cognitive decline of elderly patients and the efficacy of folate as a treatment for improving memory deficits
Abstract
The relevance of low folate levels as determinants of cognitive deficits and the usefulness of folate supplementation in the treatment of cognitive deficits was reviewed from the literature. Over 40 papers and book chapters published in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish were examined. This represents those papers published in the international literature in the last 10 years which were identified by various key words including folate, cognition and aging (or ageing). Among these papers, only 13 articles specifically addressed issues relevant to the criteria adopted for this review. The remaining papers were principally concerned with depression and or with other pathologies of the aged associated with folate deficiency. Although the specific role of low folate levels in the physiopathology of dementia is still under debate, a growing consensus is emerging in the literature where low folate as well as cobalamin levels in aged patients with cognitive deficits are being considered as a sign of functional problems in the absorption and utilization of vitamins, and not merely as a sign of bad eating habits. In studies where folate compounds were evaluated for treatment effects, the results of a majority of investigations indicated that folate treatment was effective in lessening cognitive deficits. Treatment efficacy, however, has not yet been sufficiently demonstrated by these results because there were no controlled studies and the methodology was heterogeneous for the evaluation of cognitive characteristics. An ad hoc double-blind, controlled versus placebo pilot study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of folic acid in 30 aged patients with abnormal cognitive decline and folate level below 3 ng/ml to better understand the value of this type of intervention. Our results from this preliminary study demonstrated that patients treated with folic acid for 60 days showed a significant improvement on both memory and attention efficiency when compared with a placebo group. The intensity of memory improvement was positively correlated with initial severity of folate deficiency. On the contrary, the severity of initial cognitive decline was unrelated to the degree of folate deficiency.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“In another smaller trial, 30 elderly patients were given 15 g folic acid or a placebo for 60 days; treated patients experienced improved attention efficiency and memory processes [199].”
From Vitamins and Minerals for Energy, Fatigue and Cognition: A Narrative Review of the Biochemical and Clinical Evidence (2020) · cites this paper as [199]
Citations
Cites
The Global Deterioration Scale for assessment of primary degenerative dementia
Reisberg, ., Ferris, S. H., de Leon, M. J., & Crook, T. H. (1982) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.139.9.1136 · Cited by 5,122
Advances in Psychological Assessment
(1984) · The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist · doi:10.1017/s0816512200025116 · Cited by 597
S-adenosylmethionine levels in psychiatric and neurological disorders: a review
Bottiglieri, T., Hyland, Κ., & Bottiglieri, T. (1994) · Acta Neurologica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0404.1994.tb05405.x · Cited by 116
Bell, I. R., Edman, J. S., Marby, D. W., Satlin, A., Dreier, T., Liptzin, B., & Cole, J. O. (1990) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/0006-3223(90)90642-f · Cited by 115
Folate, vitamin B12 and cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease
LEVITT, A. J., & Karlinsky, H. (1992) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1992.tb03270.x · Cited by 86
Nutritional Status of Free-Living Alzheimer’s Patients
Renvall, M. J., Spindler, A. A., Ramsdell, J., & Paskvan, M. (1989) · The American Journal of the Medical Sciences · doi:10.1097/00000441-198907000-00004 · Cited by 83
Low B12 levels related to high activity of platelet MAO in patients with dementia disorders
Regland, B., Gottfries, C. G., Oreland, L., & Svennerholm, L. T. (1988) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1988.tb06366.x · Cited by 60
Arnold, S. E., & Kumar, A. (1993) · Medical Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/s0025-7125(16)30280-2 · Cited by 51
Bell, I. R., Edman, J. S., Miller, J., Hebben, N., Linn, R. T., Ray, D. C., & Kayne, H. L. (1990) · Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology · doi:10.1177/089198879000300208 · Cited by 43
Morley, J. E., Silver, A. J., Miller, D. K., & Rubenstein, L. Z. (1989) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1989.tb53231.x · Cited by 41
Regland, B., & Gottfries, C. G. (1992) · Medical Hypotheses · doi:10.1016/0306-9877(92)90153-4 · Cited by 31
Review: Cobalamin Deficiency and Mental Impairment in Elderly People
GOOR, L. P. V., Woiski, M., Lagaay, A. M., Meinders, A. E., & Tak, P. P. (1995) · Age and Ageing · doi:10.1093/ageing/24.6.536 · Cited by 29
Reliability between the five forms of the Randt Memory Test and their equivalence
Fioravanti, M., Thorel, M., Ramelli, L., & Napoleoni, A. (1985) · Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics · doi:10.1016/0167-4943(85)90042-1 · Cited by 16
Self-citationNutritional Status and Psychometric Test Scores in Cognitively Impaired Eldersa
Spindler, A. A., & Renvall, M. J. (1989) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1989.tb20980.x · Cited by 11
Alzheimer's disease and metal-containing glia
Young, J. K. (1992) · Medical Hypotheses · doi:10.1016/0306-9877(92)90151-2 · Cited by 10
Are age-related behavioral disorders improved by folate administration?
Joyal, C. C., Lalonde, R., Vīķis-Freibergs, V., & Botez, M. I. (1993) · Experimental Aging Research · doi:10.1080/03610739308253944 · Cited by 9
Fragile sites, Alzheimer's disease, and aging
Kormann-Bortolotto, M. H., Smith, M. D. A. C., & Neto, J. T. (1992) · Mechanisms of Ageing and Development · doi:10.1016/0047-6374(92)90122-t · Cited by 9
Fioravanti, M., & Cesare, F. D. (1992) · International Psychogeriatrics · doi:10.1017/s1041610292000942 · Cited by 7
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Brocker, 1986, Carences en folates chez les sujets agés: intérêt de leur correction dans le traitement des troubles du comportement, Semaine Hop. Paris, 27, 2135
- Rapin, 1988, Blood folates deficiencies and cognitive functions in aging, Trends Biomed. Gerontol., 1, 315
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Brain foods: The effects of nutrients on brain function.
Gómez-Pinilla, F. (2008) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2421 · Cited by 1,372
Durga, J., van Boxtel, M. P., Schouten, E. G., Kok, F. J., Jolles, J., Katan, M. B., & Verhoef, P. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)60109-3 · Cited by 758
Tardy, A.-L., Pouteau, E., Marquez, D., Yilmaz, C., & Scholey, A. (2020) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu12010228 · Cited by 541
Vitamin B 12 and folate in relation to the development of Alzheimer’s disease
Wang, H., Wåhlin, Å., Basun, H., Fastbom, J., Winblad, B. G., & Fratiglioni, L. (2001) · Neurology · doi:10.1212/wnl.56.9.1188 · Cited by 469
Nutrients for Cognitive Development in School-aged Children
Bryan, J., Osendarp, S. J. M., Hughes, D., Calvaresi, E., Baghurst, K. I., & van Klinken, J. (2004) · Nutrition Reviews · doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2004.tb00055.x · Cited by 382
Metadata
- Authors
- Fioravanti, M., Ferrario, E., Massaia, M., Cappa, G., Rivolta, G., Grossi, E., & Buckley, A. E.
- Affiliations
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
- University of Turin (IT)
- Bracco (Italy) (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Buckley, A.E
- Venue
- Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1997-12
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-13
- ISSN
- 0167-4943 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2051413962
- Cited by
- 115
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Folate and B Vitamins Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Clinical Neurology › Alcoholism and Thiamine Deficiency
- Keywords
- folate deficiency, cognitive decline, memory impairment, folic acid supplementation, older adults, aging, dementia, vitamin B12, attention, pilot study
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
