Australia will deliver funds for new dementia research on the impact of Vitamin B12 levels, Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek and Minister for Mental Health and Ageing Mark Butler said Tuesday.
Vitamin B12, commonly found in seafood like oysters, has a key role in normal brain functioning, reports Xinhua.
According to a statement, these new dementia research projects included one from University of Wollongong, two from University of Melbourne, one from University of Queensland, one from Edith Cowan University and one from University of Tasmania.
These projects will focus on things like how a lack of Vitamin B12 contributes to age-related memory loss, reasoning and decision making, the specific type of protein that may be toxic to brain cells, potential new drug targets for Alzheimer's treatment and so on.
Plibersek said this research aims to make dementia a far less debilitating condition than what it is today.
"Dementia is likely to affect 900,000 Australians by 2050, and I'm proud that Australia is acting now in whole range of areas like research, awareness and better services," she said.
Mark Butler said dementia had achieved national prominence this decade.
