Creatine Supplement Shows Promise in Alzheimer's Pilot Study

Creatine has long been a staple in gyms and fitness centers, a supplement that athletes and weightlifters use to build muscle and improve performance. But researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center have found something unexpected in the compound: a possible tool for slowing cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients.

In a pilot study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, patients with Alzheimer's disease took 20 grams of creatine monohydrate daily for eight weeks. By the end of the trial, they showed measurable improvements in cognitive function. Their performance improved on tests measuring sorting ability, reading comprehension, and attention—the kinds of mental tasks that typically deteriorate as Alzheimer's progresses. The findings are preliminary, but they suggest a direction worth pursuing.

The context matters. In the United States alone, roughly 7.2 million people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's disease as of 2025. The condition is the most common form of dementia worldwide, eroding memory, thinking, and behavior in ways that devastate both patients and families. There is no cure. Current treatments offer modest help at best. Any potential intervention, no matter how modest, draws serious attention.

Matthew Taylor, an assistant professor and director of the KU Brain Nutrition Laboratory at the University of Kansas Medical Center and a co-author of the study, explained the reasoning behind the research. Earlier studies in mice had suggested that creatine monohydrate might help in an animal model of Alzheimer's. But no one had tested it in human patients before. The timing felt right. Creatine works by helping the body produce adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, which is essentially fuel for the brain. In Alzheimer's disease, the brain's ability to metabolize energy declines sharply. If creatine could restore some of that energy production, it might help preserve cognitive function. The supplement may also reduce inflammation, which is implicated in Alzheimer's progression.

Taylor described the mechanism plainly: the brain demands enormous amounts of energy, but in Alzheimer's patients, that energy metabolism collapses. Creatine is crucial for transporting energy from the mitochondria—the cell's power plants—and boosting creatine levels might even push mitochondria to produce more energy in the first place.

But the researchers are careful not to overstate what they have found. Taylor himself emphasized that the study is far from definitive. What they have is preliminary evidence, a foundation for larger work. Properly designed, placebo-controlled clinical trials are needed to determine whether creatine actually helps Alzheimer's patients or whether the improvements in this small pilot study were coincidental. Until that evidence exists, the recommendation from the medical community is clear: patients should not start taking creatine with the goal of improving cognition.

Amit Sachdev, medical director in the Department of Neurology at Michigan State University, told Women's Health that he would not advise creatine use for cognitive improvement. The data supporting such use is not well-established. Taylor agreed. He suggested that Alzheimer's patients and their families discuss any supplement with their neurologist before starting it. The promise is real enough to warrant further investigation, but it is not yet real enough to change clinical practice.