A new study from the Temple University in Philadelphia, US, suggests that eating a diet rich in extra virgin olive oil may prevent the accumulation protein tau which is considered a hallmark of many types of dementia.
For the study, a team of researchers used genetically modified mice that were prone to accumulate excessive amounts of the otherwise normal protein tau. In various forms of dementia, this protein accumulates inside neurons in the form of toxic “tangles.”
Mice were divided into two groups. The first group ate a diet enriched with olive oil beginning from the age of six months for 6 months. The second (control) group ate the regular diet.
After one year, the researchers conducted experiments that showed that mice eating olive oil had 60% fewer tau deposits compared to the mice from the control group.
A new study that included the older Japanese population finds that people whose blood contains higher levels of trans fats were at higher risk of developing dementia compared to people with lower levels.
For the study, a team of researchers used data from 1,628 people whose age was at least 60 years. None of them was diagnosed with dementia at the moment of blood sampling during a screening examination in 2002–2003. The participants were followed for 10 years and registered incidences of dementia.
The analysis of the collected data showed that those participants who had the highest levels of trans fats in blood had a 52% higher risk to develop dementia.
Study author Toshiharu Ninomiya, a professor in the department of epidemiology and public health at Kyushu University in Japan, says: “These public health efforts have the potential to help prevent dementia cases around the world, not to mention the decrease in heart disease and other conditions related to trans fats.”
Recent research, completed by scientists from the University of Manchester, suggests that part of our brain called cerebellum, which is responsible for movement and balance, can be resistant to dementia.
During the study, the vital organs of 9 people who died from Alzheimer’s disease were analyzed. The researchers found that the cerebellum produced proteins which protect against the disease in these people.
Lead researcher Richard Unwin explains: “The cerebellum, previously thought [to] be unaffected, displays a significant response at the molecular level. Many of the changes here are not seen in other regions and this could imply that this region actively protects itself from disease. We won’t know for sure until we carry out more research.”
According to the research, conducted by Rutgers University, US, coffee could fight both Parkinson’s disease and a form of dementia called dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).
For the study, a team of scientists used a mice model including rodents with the risk of developing both diseases. The tests showed that two compounds found in coffee, caffeine and EHT, prevented alpha-synuclein from building-up after just six months.
At the present moment, the researchers hope that these two compounds found in coffee could be integrated into a drug to treat Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies in humans. These diseases are considered incurable.
A new study, conducted by scientists from the Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, Sweden, suggests that atrial fibrillation is associated with the increased risk of developing dementia.
For the study, a team of researchers has analyzed the data of 2,685 participants whose average age was 73 years. The scientists interviewed the participants and conducted a medical examination at baseline. After that, the participants younger than 78 was followed for 6 years, and the participants older than 78 were examined every 3 years.
The researchers explain in their paper: “Assuming that there was a cause-and-effect relationship between using blood thinners and the reduced risk of dementia, we estimated that about 54 percent of the dementia cases would have been hypothetically prevented if all of the people with atrial fibrillation had been taking blood thinners.”
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