Vitamins or Cocoa: Which Preserves Cognition?

Findings from a phase 3 study show daily multivitamin use, but not cocoa, is linked to a significantly slower rate of age-related cognitive decline.

Originally presented last November at the 14th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference and reported by Medscape Medical News at that time, this is the first large-scale, long-term randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of cocoa extract and multivitamins on global cognition. The trial’s primary focus was on cocoa extract, which earlier studies suggest may preserve cognitive function. Analyzing the effect of multivitamins was a secondary outcome.

Dr Laura Baker

Showing vitamins, but not cocoa, was beneficial is the exact opposite of what researchers expected. Still, the results offer an interesting new direction for future study, lead investigator Laura D. Baker, PhD, professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, told Medscape Medical News.

“This study made us take notice of a pathway for possible cognitive protection,” Baker said. “Without this study, we would never have looked down that road.”

The full results were published online today in Alzheimer’s and Dementia.