Dear Reader,
As a die-hard Baltimore Ravens fan, you won't hear me say too many good things about Pittsburgh, but today is an exception. Because two University of Pittsburgh professors have revolutionized Alzheimer's research.
In spring 2008, the professors announced their findings that a fluorescent dye--which they call Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB)--binds to the beta-amyloid deposits that corrupt the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
PiB is injected into a patient, and then positron emission tomography (PET) is used to pinpoint the location and amount of beta-amyloid buildup.
Previously, researchers could only determine beta-amyloid progression with a brain autopsy. But using PiB and a PET scan, for the first time they were able to accurately judge progression in a living patient. (Accuracy was later confirmed with an autopsy.)
Fast forward to 2010, and we now have the results of one of the first studies to put the PiB/PET technology to use.
New York University researchers recruited 42 people with healthy brain function. Their average age was 65. Fourteen subjects had parents with no history of AD. Another group of 14 had mothers with AD history. The third group of 14 had fathers with AD history.
PiB injection followed by PET scans showed that those with a family history of AD were four times more likely to have beta-amyloid deposits. The results also confirmed previous research suggesting that AD risk is even higher in those with AD mothers.
The NYU team plans to mount a larger study with the same design. They'll also follow their original 42 subjects to track development of dementia as they age.
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Eat this, then eat that
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The PiB/PET technique isn't available yet for testing individual patients. But if one of your parents had Alzheimer's, you don't need fluorescent dye and a PET scan to know that some prevention is in order.
So to start, you can wrap your healthy brain around this list:
- Omega-3 fatty acids
- Vitamin B complex
- Niacin (vitamin B3)
- Vitamins C & E
- Beta-carotene
Research has linked all of these nutrients to Alzheimer's risk. Subjects in the studies were either at higher AD risk because nutrient levels were too low (as in the case of DHA –-an omega-3 fatty acid), or subjects were at lower risk because nutrient levels were very high (as with vitamins B3, C and E).
In addition, a new study from Columbia University shows that following a strict Mediterranean diet helps prevent dementia as well as silent strokes that damage the brain without causing symptoms. And of course, all the nutrients listed above are delivered in abundance in the Mediterranean diet.
After powering up the nutrients, it's time to get moving.
A couple of years ago, University of Kansas researchers used MRI brain scans and treadmill tests to illustrate a significant link between poor fitness levels and pronounced hippocampal atrophy in subjects over the age of 60 with AD.
The hippocampus is the area of your brain that stores memory, so no surprise that it's also the area that deteriorates with onset of Alzheimer's.
Eat well. Get a little exercise. Preventing Alzheimer's might not be as simple as that, but it's a perfect place to start.
....
Jenny Thompson
From email of HSI eAlert
