Vitamin B1 may help Alzheimer’s patients; locals involved in national study

The idea of using a common vitamin supplement as a tool to stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease is a tantalizing proposition. And, it is one being studied in Southwest Florida.

It involves taking a synthetic version of vitamin B1, also called thiamine. This vitamin is linked to memory and cognition. The trial, which is guided by the National Institute on Aging, has enrolled patients locally and, if successful, could change the course of the disease.

Carole and Hank Starks are determined to hang on to what they have. When Carole’s memory started to fail, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

“It came upon me fairly quick. I didn’t know what it was,” she added. “I just knew that I was having more trouble making decisions.”

As a couple, the Starks’ looked for clinical trials that might give her benefit. That’s when the opportunity to try vitamin B1 presented itself.

“They called us and said, ‘Hey, there’s another study we would like for y’all to take a look at if you’re interested. And it’s just a vitamin,'” Hank told WINK News Health and Medical Reporter Amy Oshier.

This supplement is not a magic bullet. Vitamin B1, or thiamine, is sold in stores everywhere and has proven to be essential in thinking, memory and learning. It is lacking in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s Disease.

“We have realized that patients that have Alzheimer’s disease have a deficiency in thiamine in the brain, but they have adequate levels of thiamine throughout their blood system or their bloodstream,” explained John Huffaker, the principal investigator with the Neuropsychiatric Research Center of Southwest Florida.

His is one of fifty test sites nationwide enrolling patients, including Starks, in a Phase 2 clinical trial.

“What we’re trying to determine is, can we raise the level of thiamine in the brain, improve thiamine-related brain processes, and slow the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease,” Huffaker explained.

It hasn’t been easy. Thiamine needs a transporter protein to take it into the brain. A synthetic form of the vitamin called benfotiamine is being studied. It attracts more of those transporters and is believed to increase blood thiamine up to one hundred times. Getting there is only half the mission.

“We’re watching the blood levels and making sure, yes, the medication is getting where we want,” added Huffaker. “But at the same time, we’re doing cognitive testing, or what we call scales, to see how are we performing cognitively throughout that study”

This is a blind study, so Starks doesn’t know whether she is getting the real thing or a placebo. Either way, it’s delivering hope.

“I am hopeful. I am hopeful. Yes. I think it’s just a matter of time, and the cocktail will all come together,” she said.

In time for her to preserve her memories.

There is still room for more participants in this study. All associated costs are covered. If you are between the ages of 50 and 89 with mild memory problems due to Alzheimer’s Disease and would like more information, click here.