DHA Consumption Reduces Risk of Alzheimer's
Columbia
MD, 28 July 2003
Martek
Biosciences Corporation today commented on the results of a study
published in the July 2003 edition of Archives of Neurology.
Data from the study indicated that weekly fish and docosahexaenoic
acid (DHA) consumption reduces the risk of Alzheimer disease by
60%.
The
authors stated that "Notably, it was DHA that had the strongest
protective effect against Alzheimer disease." In fact, the groups
with the highest intake of DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, demonstrated
statistically significant reductions of 60% to 80% in the risk of
developing Alzheimer disease. The authors reported that another
omega-3 fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), appeared to have
no protective effect and alpha-linolenic acid, also an omega-3 fatty
acid, was protective, but only among people with a specific genotype.
The authors concluded from this and other studies that "Dietary
intake of n-3 [omega-3] fatty acids and weekly consumption of fish
may reduce the risk of incident Alzheimer disease."
The
study examined fish consumption and the intake of DHA and other
types of omega-3 fatty acids in an effort to identify any protective
effect against Alzheimer disease. A total of 815 subjects, aged
65 to 94, who were initially unaffected by Alzheimer disease, participated
in the study. Participants were followed up for an average of 3.9
years for the development of Alzheimer disease. Subsets of the 815
participants were categorized and evaluated according to their varying
intake of fish, DHA, EPA, alpha-linolenic acid, or, a combination
of omega-3 fatty acids including DHA, EPA and alpha-linolenic acid.
"This
study indicates that DHA may play an important role in the prevention
of Alzheimer disease," stated Henry "Pete" Linsert, Jr., Chairman
and CEO of Martek. "It adds to existing evidence of the many benefits
of DHA."
About
Martek Biosciences Corporation
Martek
Biosciences Corporation develops, manufactures and sells products
from microalgae. The Company's products include: (1) specialty,
nutritional oils for infant formula that aid in the development
of the eyes and central nervous system in newborns; (2) nutritional
supplements and food ingredients that may play a beneficial role
in promoting mental and cardiovascular health throughout life; and
(3) new, powerful fluorescent markers for diagnostics, rapid miniaturized
screening, and gene and protein detection.
Source
Martek
Biosciences Corporation (www.martekbio.com).
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