B Vitamins to Compensate Genetic Damage by Air Pollution

High air pollution does not only make breathing more difficult but it also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and possibly dementia in the long term (1). Air pollutants, such as fine dust, adversely affect genetic switching sites causing the genetic predisposition for these diseases.

Scientists could demonstrate for the first time that the use of high-dose B vitamins can mitigate the harmful effects of fine dust in ten healthy non-smokers aged between 18 and 60 years. The daily intake of tablets containing 2.5 mg of folic acid, 50 mg of vitamin B₆ and 1 mg of vitamin B₁₂ reduced the effects of an artificially generated short-term fine dust load in the genetic material by 28 to 76 % for non-smokers (2).

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(1) For a classification of the problem, see Assmann-Foundation for Prevention: “Accelerated brain aging due to excessive dust pollution” and associated resources.. Blog. Available via : https://www.assmann-stiftung.de/beschleunigte-hirnalterung-aufgrund-von-zu-hoher-feinstaub-belastung-111/
(2) J. Zhong et al. B vitamins attenuate the epigenetic effects of ambient fine particles in a pilot human intervention trial. PNAS 2017; published ahead of print March 13, 2017. DOI10.1073/pnas.1618545114. Available under: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/03/07/1618545114.abstract and http://www.pnas.org/content/suppl/2017/03/08/1618545114.DCSupplemental/pnas.201618545SI.pdf