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People with high omega-3 blood levels are half as likely as others to develop Alzheimer’s disease. This is revealed by a study published in the scientific journal Nutrients.
Omega-3s to prevent Alzheimer’s disease? This is the path that emerges from the American study led by Professor Aleix Sala-Vila and his team, under the aegis of the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI), a non-profit research foundation, which works on the link between fatty acids and health.
Nearly 5 years of life gained
This observational study, the results of which were published in the journal Nutrients, followed a cohort of 1,490 people aged over 65, without dementia. The particularity of these volunteers was to be carriers of the ApoE4 gene, a predisposition gene which approximately doubles an individual’s susceptibility to developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Objective: to examine the association between omega-3 DHA and the development of neurodegenerative disease.
Their findings suggest that supplemental dietary intake of omega-3 DHA may slow the development of the disease. In fact, participants with high omega-3 blood levels had a 49% lower risk of developing the disease. And according to projections, people could gain an additional 4.7 years of life without Alzheimer’s disease.
Easy to implement prevention
For researchers, the impact of such a discovery is significant. Preventing Alzheimer’s disease with omega-3s is both “profitable and low risk“, write the authors.
“Given that estimated health care payments in 2021 for all patients with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias amount to $355 billion in the United States (not including care provided by members of family and other unpaid caregivers), any cost-effective strategy to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease is of major public health interest“they conclude.