|
 “It suggests that a healthy dietary pattern and specific dietary
components have impact on biomarkers of brain pathology,” senior
researcher Rosebud Roberts of the Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s Disease
Research Center in Rochester, Minnesota, told Reuters Health by
email.
A Mediterranean-style diet includes fish, lean meat, legumes, nuts,
whole grains, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats. The diet has been
linked to better heart and bone health.
Roberts and colleagues analyzed data from 672 participants in the
Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. At the start, none of the participants
had dementia, and they weren’t in hospice or terminally ill.
Residents from Olmsted County, Minnesota, entered the study in 2004,
at ages 70 to 89.
Participants described their diets in a survey and underwent tests
for memory, executive function, language, visual-spatial skills and
cognitive impairment. Researchers also used magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) to measure the cortical thickness of several regions
of the brain.
Roberts and colleagues found that elderly patients with higher
Mediterranean diet scores had higher cortical thickness in all lobes
in the brain. Higher legume and fish intake, in particular, was
associated with greater thickness, they reported July 25 in the
journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
The study didn’t track patients long enough to see whether they
actually developed any cognitive problems later on, however.
Yian Gu, an epidemiologist at Columbia University Medical Center in
New York City, pointed out to Reuters Health that the study can’t
show whether diet actually causes less brain atrophy.
Gu wasn’t involved with the new study, but she and her team have
found ties between the Mediterranean diet, brain volume and total
brain matter in their own research.
[to top of second column] |
But “these are observational studies, not clinical trials, so a
causal relationship can’t be established,” Gu said.
It’s possible, for example, that changes in brain structure result
in poorer dietary habits, Gu said.
“As many people know, we don’t have a cure for Alzheimer’s disease,
and there is a long period of time before onset. It’s important to
find lifestyle factors that could prevent or delay the disease,”
said Gu.
Although a doctor can’t prescribe a Mediterranean diet to elderly
patients, it doesn’t hurt to follow it, Gu said.
“Specifically," noted Roberts, "a high intake of fish, vegetables
and legumes are beneficial, whereas a high intake of simple sugars
and carbohydrates may have adverse effects on the brain."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2aHaDXU
Alz Dement 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
