Omega-3 oil linked to lower level of Alzheimer's protein

June, 2012

A new study adds to growing evidence that higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids help protect against Alzheimer’s disease.

A new study, involving 1,219 dementia-free older adults (65+), has found that the more omega-3 fatty acids the person consumed, the lower the level of beta-amyloid in the blood (a proxy for brain levels). Consuming a gram of omega-3 more than the average per day was associated with 20-30% lower beta-amyloid levels. A gram of omega-3 equates to around half a fillet of salmon per week.

Participants provided information about their diet for an average of 1.2 years before their blood was tested for beta-amyloid. Other nutrients investigated —saturated fatty acids, omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, mono-unsaturated fatty acid, vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene, vitamin B12, folate and vitamin D — were not associated with beta-amyloid levels.

The results remained after adjusting for age, education, gender, ethnicity, amount of calories consumed and APOE gene status.

The findings are consistent with previous research associating higher levels of omega-3 and/or fish intake with lower risk of Alzheimer’s. Additionally, another recent study provides evidence that the brains of those with Alzheimer’s disease, MCI, and the cognitively normal, all have significantly different levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. That study concluded that the differences were due to both consumption and metabolic differences.

Reference: 

[2959] Gu, Y., Schupf N., Cosentino S. A., Luchsinger J. a, & Scarmeas N.
(2012).  Nutrient Intake and Plasma Β-Amyloid.
Neurology. 78(23), 1832 - 1840.

Cunnane, S.C. et al. 2012. Plasma and Brain Fatty Acid Profiles in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 29 (3), 691-697.

Related News

Training in a mental imagery technique has been found to help multiple sclerosis patients in two memory domains often affected by the disease: autobiographical memory and episodic future thinking.

A study involving 218 participants aged 18-88 has looked at the effects of age on the brain activity of participants viewing an edited version of a 1961 Hitchcock TV episode (given that participants viewed the movie while in a MRI machine, the 25 minute episode was condensed to 8 minutes).

A study involving 100 healthy older adults (aged 60-80) has found that those with higher levels of physical activity showed more variable spontaneous brain activity in certain brain regions (including the

A ten-year study involving 2,092 older adults (average age 76) has found that people tended to lose awareness of memory problems two to three years before the onset of dementia.

A large, five-year study challenges the idea that omega-3 fatty acids can slow age-related cognitive decline.

A large, two-year study challenges the evidence that regular exercise helps prevent age-related cognitive decline.

A study involving 97 healthy older adults (65-89) has found that those with the “Alzheimer’s gene” (APOe4) who didn’t engage in much physical activity showed a decrease in hippocampal volume (3%) over 18 months.

An Indian study involving 648 dementia patients, of whom 391 were bilingual, has found that, overall, bilingual patients developed dementia 4.5 years later than the monolingual ones. There was no additional advantage to speaking more than two languages.

A study, involving 371 patients with mild cognitive impairment, has found that those with depressive symptoms had higher levels of amyloid-beta, particularly in the frontal cortex and the anterior and posterior

A study involving 206 spousal and adult children caregivers of dementia sufferers (mostly Alzheimer’s) has found that about 84% of caregivers reported a clinically significant burden. Three factors were significant contributors to the burden:

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news
Error | About memory

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.