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Three-week nutritional supplementation effect on long-term nutritional status of patients with mild Alzheimer disease
de Sousa OL, Amaral TF.. Alzheimer disease and associated disorders, 2012-04-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Short-term nutritional supplements enable an improvement in Alzheimer patients' nutritional status, but it remains to be seen whether they will be sufficient to improve long-term nutritional status. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term impact of a 3-week nutritional supplementation on the nutritional status of undernourished patients with probable mild Alzheimer disease. A 21-day prospective randomized nonblinded controlled trial was conducted. Patients were followed-up for an additional period until the 90th day after the beginning of the intervention. Intervention resulted in significant improvements in Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) score [Mean=1.4, standard deviation (SD)=0.8 vs. 0.0 (0.1) in the control group, P<0.001] and also in anthropometrical and serum biomarkers of Alzheimer disease (AD) patients' nutritional status. Further improvements in the AD patients' MNA mean score=1.4 (SD=2.3) versus -0.5 (SD=0.6) in the control group (P=0.003) were seen at 90 days follow-up. Data show that a 3-week nutritional supplementation has a positive long-term impact on the nutritional status of undernourished patients with mild probable AD.
Key findings
- Intervention resulted in significant improvements in Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) score [Mean=1.4, standard deviation (SD)=0.8 vs. 0.0 (0.1) in the control group, P<0.001] and also in anthropometrical and serum biomarkers of Alzheimer disease (AD) patients' nutritional status.
- Further improvements in the AD patients' MNA mean score=1.4 (SD=2.3) versus -0.5 (SD=0.6) in the control group (P=0.003) were seen at 90 days follow-up.
Why it matters
A 3-week nutritional supplement programme improved nutritional status scores in undernourished patients with mild probable Alzheimer's disease, and the improvement persisted at 90 days. This addresses nutrition, not the treatment, cure, or prevention of Alzheimer's disease itself.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer disease and associated disorders) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders: journal h-index 131 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 3 / 7 | Cited 27 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 1.7 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 5 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Teresa Freitas do Amaral: h-index 35 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Universidade do Porto: institution h-index 646 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 21878804) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
May need a subscription Unpaywall, Europe PMC and OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 10 Oct 2026), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
de Sousa, O. L., & Amaral, T. F. (2012). Three-week nutritional supplementation effect on long-term nutritional status of patients with mild Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer disease and associated disorders. https://doi.org/10.1097/wad.0b013e31822c5bb3
Vancouver
de Sousa OL, Amaral TF. Three-week nutritional supplementation effect on long-term nutritional status of patients with mild Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer disease and associated disorders. 2012. doi:10.1097/wad.0b013e31822c5bb3. PMID: 21878804.
BibTeX
@article{desousa2012-21878804,
author = {de Sousa, O. L. and Amaral, T. F.},
title = {{Three-week nutritional supplementation effect on long-term nutritional status of patients with mild Alzheimer disease}},
journal = {Alzheimer disease and associated disorders},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1097/wad.0b013e31822c5bb3},
pmid = {21878804},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1097/wad.0b013e31822c5bb3}
}
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2 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.