Adding fish oil to your daily diet has been shown to have a variety of benefits for mood, and brain health and reduces the risk of developing brain lesions, which are considered a visible marker of cognitive decline, Science Alert reported.
But what about older people who already have white matter damage? Can fish oil tablets stop damage and slow the progression of diseases like Alzheimer's?
A team from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSS) studied the effect of omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish oil on a group of 102 volunteers between the ages of 75 and 95. They show little or no signs of cognitive impairment despite the beginnings of neurological damage known as white matter lesions.
While omega-3 fatty acids did not significantly affect the group as a whole over the three years of the study, they did significantly slow the rate of disability accumulation in one subgroup: individuals carrying the APOE4 gene, which is associated with a higher risk of the disease of Alzheimer's.
While the treatment did not appear to affect the growth rates of white matter lesions, individuals with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease saw "significant reductions" in the destruction of nerve cells - another key indicator of brain health.
"The fact that the breakdown of neuronal integrity was slowed in people treated with omega-3s, who are also at high risk for Alzheimer's disease, is remarkable and warrants a larger clinical trial in the future in more diverse populations," said neuroscientist Gene Bowman, who was at the OCCU when the study was conducted.
The results suggest that fish oil supplements will not prevent or delay the development of dementia in general, but may benefit some individuals who are at risk.
Our results showed that over three years there was no statistically significant difference between the placebo and the fish oil group." "I don't think it would be harmful, but I wouldn't say you have to take fish oil to prevent dementia," said neurologist Lin Shinto of the AZN.
The researchers want larger clinical trials to be conducted to analyze the relationship between APOE4 carriers, dementia progression and omega-3 fatty acids. Research like this should give us a better idea of the impact that fish oil can potentially have.
Alzheimer's disease is a complex disease, but each study on it brings us closer to fully understanding the condition and ways to overcome it. Studies as thorough as the one here are especially useful for figuring out how and why different people's brains age differently.
"This is the first dementia prevention study to use modern prevention tools, such as a blood test and brain scan, to identify not only people at high risk of dementia but also those who are suitable to receive a specific nutritional intervention,” Bowman explained. | BGNES
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