B Vitamins Reduce Schizophrenia Symptoms, Study Finds (newsmax.com)

A new study published in the journal Psychological Medicine finds that high doses of B vitamins reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia. Researchers found that using B vitamins, including B6, inositol, and B12 as an adjunctive with antipsychotics significantly improved symptoms of the debilitating condition. Newsmax reports: For the new study, researchers identified 18 clinical trials with a combined total of 832 patients receiving antipsychotic treatment for schizophrenia. They found that B-vitamin interventions which used higher dosages or combined several vitamins were consistently effective for reducing psychiatric symptoms, whereas those which used lower doses were ineffective. The evidence also suggested that B-vitamin supplements were most beneficial when they were added to medicine regimens early after diagnosis.

Comments

Re:Ray Kurzweil

[Rei]

Funny, the only schizophrenic I've ever known was also vegan.

I'm a vegetarian, and have strong sympathy for the motives behind being vegan. But take your B-12, my vegan friends. Unless you eat large amounts of soil, feces, or bacterial concentrates, or you've had a rumen implanted in your body, you need it. Higher plants don't make it. Every "vegetarian" mammal has to get it from somewhere, and those not lucky enough to have rumens (or other organs filling equivalent "cultivate lots of bacteria" roles) either get it through eating soil, feces, insects (accidentally or on purpose), or other such sources. Even our "strict" vegetarian gorilla relatives eat grubs. Heck, even though I consume dairy, I still take a B-12 supplement, just to ensure that I get enough.

Also, B-12 shortage doesn't hit you immediately. The body stores about 5 years of B-12. So it'll catch up with you sooner or later.