Minus for food supplements and a Minus 2 for IQ

John Starr, a consultant and researcher at the Royal Victoria hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland says that smoking through one's life may typically reduce his/her IQ by 2. Also this might explain why memory lapses and slower thinking found in many people beyond the age of 60.

A separate finding in connection with a study by the Scottish Educational Research Centre reveals that most vitamins and minerals said to be present in food supplements have almost no effect on mental abilities. However, these supplements containing folic acid and vitamin B12 can help reduce levels of homecysteine, an amino acid that in high levels is associated with increased risk of vascular disease and dementia.

Source: Gulf News, Monday, March 26, 2007.