Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33459639›Full record

ArticleJournal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD2021

Plasma Vitamin B12 Levels, High-Dose Vitamin B12 Treatment, and Risk of Dementia.

Johan Frederik Håkonsen Arendt, Erzsébet Horváth-Puhó, Henrik Toft Sørensen, Ebba Nexø, Lars Pedersen, Anne Gulbech Ording, Victor W Henderson

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Higher vitamin BAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Johan Frederik Håkonsen ArendtDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Erzsébet Horváth-PuhóDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Henrik Toft SørensenDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Ebba NexøDepartment of Clinical Biochemistry, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Lars PedersenDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Anne Gulbech OrdingDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Victor W HendersonDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Aarhus University Hospital · DK

Funding

Stanford Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterAdmin Supp: Developing iPSC models for AD and PDP30AG066515 · NIA · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI Jennifer Kaci Fairchild · 2020 to 2026
$29.0M
Working Memory in Parkinson Disease: A Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience ApproachP50AG047366 · NIA · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI HENDERSON, VICTOR · 2015 to 2019
$7.9M
Stanford Medicine Center for Longevity and Healthy Aging Research Education CoreP30AG059307 · NIA · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI ZOU, JAMES · 2018 to 2025
$4.9M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG059307NIA NIH HHS P30 AG066515NIA NIH HHS P50 AG047366
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIt is controversial whether B12 deficiency causes dementia or B12 treatment can prevent dementia.

objectiveTo assess associations between low plasma (P-)B12 levels, B12 treatment, and risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD; primary outcome) and all-cause or vascular dementia (secondary outcomes).

methodsWe conducted a population-based cohort study using Danish registry data to assess associations between low P-B12 levels, high-dose injection or oral B12 treatment, and risk of dementia (study period 2000-2013). The primary P-B12 cohort included patients with a first-time P-B12 measurement whose subsequent B12 treatment was recorded. The secondary B12 treatment cohort included patients with a first-time B12 prescription and P-B12 measurement within one year before this prescription. For both cohorts, patients with low P-B12 levels (<200 pmol/L) were propensity score-matched 1:1 with patients with normal levels (200-600 pmol/L). We used multivariable Cox regression to compute 0-15-year hazard ratios for dementia.

resultsFor low P-B12 and normal P-B12 level groups, we included 53,089 patients in the primary P-B12 cohort and 13,656 patients in the secondary B12 treatment cohort. In the P-B12 cohort, hazard ratios for AD centered around one, regardless of follow-up period or treatment during follow-up. In the B12 treatment cohort, risk of AD was unaffected by low pre-treatment P-B12 levels, follow-up period and type of B12 treatment. Findings were similar for all-cause and vascular dementia.

conclusionWe found no associatio1n between low P-B12 levels and dementia. Associations were unaffected by B12 treatment. Results do not support routine screening for B12 deficiency in patients with suspected dementia.

Indexed as

Dietary SupplementsAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCohort StudiesDementiaDenmarkFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedVitamin B 12Vitamin B 12 DeficiencyVitamin B 12Alzheimer’s diseaseclinical nutritioncobalamincohort studiesregistries

Identifiers

PMID33459639
PMCPMC7990402
OpenAlexW3118312394

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.