By Loren
GrushPublished January 23, 2014FoxNews.com
Consuming fish oil may have a protective effect on the brain’s cells –
potentially shielding people from Alzheimer’s disease.
New research from the University of South Dakota has revealed that
individuals with higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids – found in fish and
fish oil – may have larger brain volumes in old age. This could have significant implications for
the elderly population, since a shrinking brain volume is often associated with
dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Omega-3s consist of three types of fats – ALA, found in plant oils, and
EPA and DHA, found in marine oils.
According to the study’s author, health experts have long suspected
omega-3s may slow brain cell death, as the human brain is rich in DHA and other
omega-3 fatty acids.
“It’s there for one reason or another,” lead author Dr. Bill Harris,
professor of medicine at Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South
Dakota, told FoxNews.com. “And then other studies have led people to think
that…fish is brain food. People have
seen that populations that eat more fish have less dementia …so it seemed like
a natural thing to look at.”
To better study the association between omega-3s and brain volume,
Harris and fellow researcher James Pottala, of the University of South Dakota,
analyzed red blood cell samples taken from 1,111 post-menopausal women as part
of the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study.
Eight years after the blood samples were taken, the women – who were
then an average of 78 years old –
underwent MRI scans in order to measure their brain volumes.
The researchers specifically measured the levels of omega-3 fatty acids
EPA+DHA in the red blood cell samples, which had been frozen and preserved for
many years.
“The red blood cell is a good representative of the other tissues in
the body,” Harris noted. “Its levels of omega-3s are more reflective of the
whole body.”
Harris and Pottala found that the women with higher levels of omega-3s
had larger total brain volumes eight years later. Furthermore, the MRIs also indicated that
higher levels of omega-3s were associated with increased volume in a specific
brain region – the hippocampus.
“The hippocampus is known to be related to the progression of
dementia,” Harris said. “As it shrinks, dementia becomes more of a
problem. So we did find that people with
higher omega-3s had higher volumes in the hippocampus – located right in the
middle of the head, right at the top of the brain stem.”
While health experts still don’t fully understand how omega-3s interact
inside the body, Harris said it’s possible that EPA and DHA act as
anti-inflammatory agents.
“A lot is known and a lot remains to be known,” Harris said. “We think
probably what they do is they help [with] generalized reduction in
inflammation. That has benefits all over the body – with the brain, blood
vessels, joints, everywhere…They also may change cell membrane structure and
kind of give them a tune up.”
Harris said that people can eat more fish or take fish oil supplements
in order to reap the potential health benefits of omega-3s. But he added that the best benefits will come
only from EPA and DHA – not ALA, which is found in flaxseeds, black walnuts and
canola oil.
“[With ALA], in order for it to become effective, it has to be
converted in the body after you eat it to these fish oil omega-3s,” Harris
said. “That conversion process is very inefficient in most people, so you don’t
really raise your omega-3 index by eating plant-based omega-3s.”
While Harris and other health experts are fairly certain omega-3s hold
brain-preserving benefits, he noted that his study only shows an association
between the fatty acids and larger brain volume – not a causal relationship.
Despite a highly controversial study linking omega-3s to increased prostate
cancer risk, the fatty acids have mostly been shown to produce no adverse
health effects -- which is why Harris gives them a strong recommendation.
“They’re completely safe to eat; they’re in fish and supplements,”
Harris said. “So even having a
possibility of being a benefit for slowing the rate of dementia gives them a
good edge.”
The research was published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical
journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/01/23/fish-oil-supplements-may-shield-against-alzheimers-study-finds/
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