DHA Alzheimer's hope
A new study has added to the growing body of evidence sugesting that the long chain omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) could help reduce the risk of developing late onset Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that DHA supplied by Martek Biosciences (which produces it from microalgae), increased the production of LR11: a protein vital to clearing the brain of enzymes that make the beta amyloid plaques which are linked to the debilitating neurological disease.
The research, which was published in the Journal of Neuroscience, used a mouse model, a diabetic rat model, and cultured human cells, and adds further weight to the arguments of scientists who believe that DHA may be most useful for early intervention and prevention of late-onset Alzheimer's - the most common form of the disease.
The results of a far larger, multi-million dollar clinical study exploring this theory for the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be released in 2010.
The NIH study also uses DHA from Martek, said Dr Edward Nelson, vice president of medical research at Martek. "This study adds to the evidence supporting the important brain health benefits provided by an enhanced DHA status."
According to Dr Bryan Hanley, Martek's director of scientific and regulatory affairs, for Europe, most of the population of Europe is currently "chronically deficient in DHA"
