Eating fish, chicken and nuts may lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease, researchers say. These foods, and others such as salad dressings, contain omega-3 fatty acids which may guard against a protein causing memory problems. A study found that the more omega-3 a person took in, the lower the levels of the damaging beta-amyloid in their blood. It has brought new hope that our diets can play a huge part in preventing the onset of dementia. Study author Dr Nikolaos Scarmeas, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York, said further research was needed to “strengthen our confidence” on the effects of omega-3. His team recruited 1,219 over-65s free of dementia who provided information about their diet for an average of 1.2 years before their blood was tested for the beta-amyloid. They found that consuming one gram of omega-3 per day — equal to about half a fillet of salmon per week – more than the average was associated with 20% to 30% lower blood beta-amyloid levels. Dr Scarmeas said: “While it's not easy to measure the level of beta-amyloid deposits in the brain in this type of study, it is relatively easy to measure the levels of beta-amyloid in the blood, which, to a certain degree, relates to the level in the brain.” He added: “Determining through further research whether omega-3 fatty acids or other nutrients relate to spinal fluid or brain beta-amyloid levels, or levels of other Alzheimer's disease-related proteins, can strengthen our confidence on beneficial effects of parts of our diet in preventing dementia.” The researchers looked at 10 nutrients but found the other nine were not associated with beta-amyloid levels. The results stayed the same after adjusting for age, education, gender, ethnicity, amount of calories consumed and whether a participant had the APOE gene, a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. The research was published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. 3A highly toxic protein described as the “real bad guy” behind Alzheimer's disease has been identified by scientists. It is a special type of beta-amyloid, which is already known to play a key role in memory loss. This newly identified molecule recruits other less harmful proteins and makes them deadly to brain cells, scientists at the University of Virginia in the US have found. The breakthrough is expected to lead to more effective treatments and one new drug has already completed early trials.
