New research into Alzheimer’s caught my eye this week.

Fill up on fish

The first looked at age related loss of grey matter in the brain which occurs over decades long before clinical symptoms of dementia appear.

It has been known that diet and lifestyle can affect overall health including that of the brain and a new study shows that eating fish may be beneficial for brain health.  Several previous studies have shown the benefit of omega 3 fatty acids, found in abundance in oily fish, on vascular health and the structure of the brain.

MRI scans of 260 cognitively normal people over the age of 65 were analysed and those who ate fish 1 – 4 times a week were found to have bigger brains – by up to 14% – with large grey matter volume in several parts of the brain.

The researchers noted:  ‘Lifestyle factors affect a variety of body systems………… The long-term impact of these factors on the brain, and on vascular systems that affect brain health, critically affects brain reserve capacity. By reducing these risk factors, the long-term improvement in brain health will likely result in a delay in the clinical expression of any age-related neurodegenerative condition.’

Healthy lifestyle can keep you young

The second report also looked at lifestyle and dietary factors in research commissioned by Alzheimer’s Disease International.  The team from King’s College highlights the importance of exercising both physically and keeping an active mind, controlling diabetes and giving up tobacco all of which can help to reduce the risk of dementia even in older age.

The researchers looked into poor early-years education and hypertension (high blood pressure) in mid life as risk factors for dementia.  They believed that better detection of hypertension  and cardiovascular risk would benefit populations in terms of dementia risk.

Medication

Another study from French and Canadian researchers has suggested that taking a group of drugs known as benzodiapezines – routinely prescribed for anxiety and sleep disorders – may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s in the elderly.

The British Medical Journal article suggested that the these drugs could increase the risk by a 51% and the longer they are used, the greater the risk.

The researchers tracked the development of the disease in a sample of elderly people who had been prescribed these drugs.  Over a period of 6 years almost 1,800 cases of Alzheimer’s was identified compared to just over 7,000 healthy people matched for age, sex and duration of follow up.  Past use of the benzodiapezines for only 3 months was increased this risk.

It would seem that these medications should only be used for a short period whilst other interventions are explored.