No benefit in omega-3 supplements for cognitive decline

  • A large study of older adults with age-related macular degeneration found no cognitive benefit from taking omega-3 supplements, or supplements of lutein and zeaxanthin.

A large, five-year study challenges the idea that omega-3 fatty acids can slow age-related cognitive decline. The study, involving 4,000 older adults, was part of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), which established that daily high doses of certain antioxidants and minerals can help slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration. However, a follow-up study found the addition of omega-3 fatty acids to the AREDS formula made no difference.

Omega-3 fatty acids are believed to be responsible for the health benefits associated with regularly eating fish, which is associated with lower rates of AMD, cardiovascular disease, and possibly dementia.

In this study, participants from the AREDS study, all of whom had early or intermediate AMD, were randomly assigned to either omega-3, or lutein and zeaxanthin (nutrients found in large amounts in green leafy vegetables), or both, or a placebo. As they all had AMD, participants also took the AREDS formula, which includes vitamins C, E, beta carotene, and zinc. Cognitive testing took place at the beginning, at 2 years, and at 4 years.

There was no benefit to these supplements: all groups showed a similar rate of cognitive decline over the study period.

The researchers speculate that the failure to find a benefit may lie in the age of the participants — it may be that supplements, to be of benefit, need to be started earlier. The other possibility (and the one I myself give greater weight to, although both factors may well be influential) is that these nutrients need to be taken in food to be effective.

It should be noted that the omega-3 fatty acids taken were those found in fish, not those found in plant foods such as flaxseed, walnuts, soy products, and canola and soybean oils.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/nei-nss082115.php

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/tjnj-eop082115.php

Reference: 

Related News

A survey of 7,072 older adults in six provinces across China, with one rural and one urban community in each province, has identified 359 older adults with dementia and 328 with depression.

A survey of 7796 older adults (65+) living in three geographic areas in England has allowed us to compare dementia rates over time, with an identical survey having been taken between 1989 and 1994. The overall prevalence of dementia fell significantly, from 8.3% to 6.5%.

A large Danish study comparing two groups of nonagenarians born 10 years apart has found that not only were people born in 1915 nearly a third (32%) more likely to reach the age of 95 than those in the 1905 cohort, but members of the group born in 1915 performed significantly better on tests of

A five-year study involving 525 older adults (70+) found 46 had Alzheimer’s or aMCI and a further 28 went on to develop the conditions.

A three-year study involving 152 adults aged 50 and older, of whom 52 had been recently diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and 31 were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, has found that those with mild or no cognitive impairment who initially had amyloid-beta plaques showed greater cogniti

More evidence for early changes in the eye in Alzheimer’s disease comes from a study involving both rats and postmortem human retinas.

Blocking a receptor involved in inflammation in the brains of mice with severe Alzheimer’s produced marked recovery in blood flow and vascular reactivity, a dramatic reduction in toxic amyloid-beta, and significant improvements in learning and memory.

A multi-year study involving 207 healthy older adults, in which their spinal fluids were repeatedly sampled and their brains repeatedly scanned, has found that disruptions in the default mode network emerges about the same time as chemical markers of Alzheimer’s appear in the spinal fluid (decre

An analysis of the anatomical connectivity in the brains of 15 people with Alzheimer's disease, 68 with mild cognitive impairment and 28 healthy older individuals, has found several measures showed disease effects:

The first detailed characterization of the molecular structures of amyloid-beta fibrils that develop in the brains of those with Alzheimer's disease suggests that different molecular structures of amyloid-beta fibrils may distinguish the brains of Alzheimer's patients with different clinical his

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.