Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham Hospital in Boston recently announced the results of the COSMOS (Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study) trial. In this high-quality, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of adults 60 and older, the cognitive (mental processes) effects of taking cocoa or a multivitamin daily were compared with those of a placebo. No benefit was demonstrated for the use of cocoa.
Cognitive aging is the process of gradual, ongoing, yet highly variable changes in cognitive functions that occur as people get older. Cognitive aging, a lifelong process, is not a disease or a quantifiable level of function. Two previous arms of the COSMOS study suggested the cognitive benefit of taking multivitamins. The latest results indicate strong evidence of benefit for both global cognition (an average of up to 19 different tests of cognition) and episodic memory (the memory of everyday events). The authors estimate that daily multivitamin use slows the onset of cognitive aging by at least two years. In this study, Centrum Silver was used as the multivitamin.
According to Howard Sesso, co-author of the COSMOS Trial and director of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, “ The finding that a daily multivitamin improved memory and slowed cognitive aging in three separate placebo-controlled studies in COSMOS is exciting and further supports the promise of multivitamins as a safe, accessible and affordable approach to protecting cognitive health in older adults.”
Americans are aging, and cognitive decline is among the top health concerns for most older adults. This simple intervention can make a difference. If you are 60 or older, I urge you to begin taking a daily multivitamin.
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