No evidence for cognitive improvement from oral nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) in dementia

Summary.

Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is advertised as an over-the-counter product or dietary supplement to treat Alzheimer's disease. We performed a 3-month open-label study with oral 10 mg/day NADH with 25 patients with mild to moderate dementia of the Alzheimer, vascular, and fronto-temporal types in addition to their current cholinomimetic drug medication. In 19 patients who completed the study, we found no evidence for any cognitive effect as defined by established psy-chometric tests. We conclude that NADH is unlikely to achieve cognitive improvements in an extent reported earlier, and present theoretical arguments against an effectiveness of this compound in dementia disorders.