Does Diet Affect Alzheimer's Disease Risk?Two conflicting stories: one study says vitamins won't help, another study says vegetable fats might< February 18, 2003 > Two new studies offer mixed news when it comes to staving off Alzheimer's disease through your diet. One study reports
While another study states that eating a diet that is low in saturated and hydrogenated fats and high in unsaturated fats just might help fend off the disease that afflicts four million Americans. Both studies, which were funded by the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appear in a recent issue of the Archives of Neurology. "One of the things we're hoping for at the National Institute on Aging," says Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, associate director of the institute's Neuroscience and Neuropsychology of Aging Program, "is that eventually in our attempts to slow the development of Alzheimer's we will have a combination of lifestyle changes plus very directed, specific drugs that together will give us a chance of really fighting this dreadful disease." In the study on vitamins, researchers followed 980 elderly patients for four years who did not have dementia at the outset of the study. The participants answered questionnaires about their eating habits at the beginning of the study and several times throughout the four-year period. During the course of the study, 242 people developed Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found no link between their intake of antioxidant vitamins and whether they or not they developed the disease. About one in 10 people over 65 and nearly half of those over 85 have Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. While the exact cause of the disease is unknown, researchers believe that free radicals, tiny particles generated by normal metabolism, can, over time, damage neurons in the brain and contribute to dementia. Antioxidants reduce the damage caused by free radicals, so researchers had hoped that eating foods or taking supplements high in antioxidants would help prevent the disease. Though that hope was not borne out in this study, do not stop taking your vitamins E and C just yet, Morrison-Bogorad says. Other studies have shown antioxidants can help stave off dementia. The National Institute on Aging is currently funding randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials—the gold standard of scientific testing—on antioxidants and Alzheimer's. The people in that study are taking 10 times the dosage of vitamin E that people reported they took in this study, Morrison-Bogorad says. "That may change the outcome," she says. In the study on fats and Alzheimer's, researchers looked at random sample of 815 Chicago-area people ages 65 and older who did not have Alzheimer's disease. Study participants had completed questionnaires about their eating habits more than two years before the study started. After four years, researchers identified 131 people with dementia. They found those who ate diets that were low in saturated fats and hydrogenated fats and high in unsaturated fats had a decreased risk of developing Alzheimer's. Unsaturated fats are found in vegetables oils (such as canola, corn, safflower, or olive), in nuts and seeds, in liquid margarine, and mayonnaise. Saturated fats are those found in animal products, such as butter, red meat, whole milk, and cheese. Snacks foods, such as commercially-produced baked goods, pretzels and other chips, and hard margarine are sources of hydrogenated fats. Hydrogenation is a chemical alteration of vegetable oils that occurs during the manufacturing process. "What's important is that so many people are under the impression that they should cut fat out of their diets, when in fact the vegetables fats are very good for you and you should think about getting a little at every meal," says Martha Clare Morris, lead author of the study and an epidemiologist at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. Study participants were divided into five groups based on their intake of the various kinds of fats. Those in the group that consumed the least of the "bad" fats and the most of the "good" fats had an 80 percent lower chance of developing Alzheimer's than those in the group that consumed the most "bad" fats and the least "good" fats. The group with the least incidence of Alzheimer's ate about 38 grams of "good" fats per day, Morris says, while those with the highest incidence of Alzheimer's ate only about 19 grams of "good" fats per day. Morrison-Bogorad says the study is very interesting, but needs to be confirmed by other research. Always consult your physician for more information.
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For more information on Alzheimer's disease, please visit the Nervous System Disorders information module on this Web site. How is Alzheimer's different from other forms of dementia?Alzheimer's disease is distinguished from other forms of dementia by characteristic changes in the brain that are visible only upon microscopic examination during autopsy. Brains affected by Alzheimer's disease often show presence of the following:
Another characteristic of Alzheimer's disease is the reduced production of certain brain chemicals necessary for communication between nerve cells, especially acetylcholine, as well as norepinephrine, serotonin, and soma-to statin. What causes Alzheimer's disease?Although intense investigation has been underway for many years, the causes of Alzheimer's disease are not entirely known. Suspected causes often include the following:
What are the warning signs or symptoms of Alzheimer's disease?According to the Alzheimer's Association, the following are the most common symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:
The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease may resemble other medical conditions or problems. Always consult your physician for a diagnosis. New Video Technique Allows Tracking of Alzheimer'sA new video technique allows scientists to track progression of Alzheimer's disease through the brains of living patients, according to a recent report published in The Journal of Neuroscience. The technique involves a computer-generated three-dimensional video derived from single brain scans taken over time, which could prove beneficial for physicians and pharmaceutical companies to track the progression of new anti-Alzheimer's drugs, experts say. The technique was devised by scientists representing the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Queensland in Australia, Addenbrooke's Hospital in England, and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals. After using the technique on 12 Alzheimer's patients, the researchers found that brain loss progressed at up to 5 percent a year in people with the disease, versus close to 0.5 percent annually among people who aged normally and whose brain scans were not tracked with this technique. Always consult your physician for more information regarding new advancements in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. |
that vitamins C and E and carotenes do not decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease, a progressive, neurodegenerative disease that occurs in the brain and often results in the following: