NORTH-EAST doctors are trying to discover if a course of B vitamins could reduce the risk of dementia by lowering the levels of a biochemical in blood.

Using a £29,078 award from the Alzheimer's Research Trust, doctors in Newcastle and Sunderland will explore the theory further.

The 12-month pilot project will examine the effects in the brain of a naturally-occurring protein building-block called homocysteine, which is over-produced in diets lacking in fresh fruit and vegetables. Scientists believe that, as with cholesterol, homocysteine can increase the formation of blood clots.

Because clots can cause tiny strokes in the brain, scientists believe an excess of the biochemical may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and a related condition called vascular dementia.

Boosting the levels of folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12, either by improving diets or taking vitamin supplements, helps cells break down homocysteine. This could potentially offer a cheap and simple way of lowering the risk of Alzheimer's, which affects more than 500,000 people in the UK.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the trust, said: "This is an exciting cutting-edge project. If the researchers' suspicions about homocysteine are correct, increasing the B vitamins in our diets could be a very simple and cost-effective way to tackle the devastating impact of dementia in our ageing population."