Omega-3 & Alzheimer

Omega-3s Linked to Lower Amyloid Levels

By John Gever, Senior Editor, MedPage Today

Published: May 02, 2012

Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Action Points

• A study of diet and plasma beta-amyloid in cognitively normal individuals over 65 found that increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids was significantly associated with lower plasma levels of beta-amyloid protein 42.
• Note that none of the other nutrients were found to have a significant association with plasma beta-amyloid.

People who had a lot of omega-3 fatty acids in their diets tended to have lower plasma levels of beta-amyloid proteins, possibly reducing their risk of Alzheimer's disease, researchers said.

In a cross-sectional study of more than 1,200 cognitively normal individuals older than 65, omega-3 fatty acid intake was significantly predictive of plasma levels of the 40- and 42-residue forms of beta-amyloid protein (AB40 and AB42, respectively), according to Nikolaos Scarmeas, MD, of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues/.../