Study details

The study is the third part of the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS). The previous two studies tested multivitamin supplements on cognition via telephone-based and online cognitive assessments.

For the third study, researchers evaluated 573 participants with in-person cognitive assessments and found that people aged 60 and older who took a Centrum Silver multivitamin had slower cognitive decline than those who took a placebo.

Specifically, the researchers found a modest benefit of using a multivitamin on global cognition over two years and a statistically significant benefit of using a multivitamin for change in episodic memory, but did not find a statistically significant benefit in executive function/attention.

The researchers also conducted a meta-analysis on the three studies with non-overlapping participants in COSMOS and found strong evidence of benefits for global cognition and episodic memory. The researchers estimated that taking a daily multivitamin slowed global cognitive aging by the equivalent of two years compared to the placebo.

Discussion

According to Chirag Vyas, an instructor in investigation at the department of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and first author on the study, the research "provides strong and consistent evidence that taking a daily multivitamin, containing more than 20 essential micronutrients, helps prevent memory loss and slow down cognitive aging."

Olivia Okereke, senior author of the study and director of geriatric psychiatry at Mass General Brigham, said the study results "will garner attention among many older adults who are, understandably, very interested in ways to preserve brain health, as they provide evidence for the role of a daily multivitamin in supporting better cognitive aging."

In addition, JoAnn Manson and Howard Sesso, both from Brigham and Women's Hospital and leaders of the COSMOS trial, noted 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." (Suter, The Hill, 1/23; Al-Arshani, USA Today, 1/22; Mass General Brigham press release, 1/18)

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