INTAKE OF OMEGA-3 FATS FOUND IN FISH MAY HELP PRESERVE BRAIN HEALTH

A recent study found older women with higher blood levels of the fats found in oily fish (such as salmon and tuna) experienced less age-related brain shrinkage than women with lower levels of fish oil fats. Normally, with age, the brain shrinks about half a percentage point every year after age 70 and those with dementia experience much greater brain shrinkage. 

For the study, Dr. James Pottala and colleagues analyzed data from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study that included 1,111 senior women who had no signs of dementia at the beginning of the study. Their blood levels of the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were measured at the start of the study.  Eight years later, the women had MRI scans that measured their brain volumes. The researchers found women with the highest EPA and DHA blood levels at the study's outset had brains that were about two cubic centimeters larger overall than women with the lowest levels.  In addition, the hippocampus, a brain region critical in forming and storing memories and one of the first areas of the brain that shrinks with Alzheimer’s, was 2.7 % larger in women who had fatty acid levels twice as high as the average.  The analysis controlled for other factors that can influence women's brain size, including education, age, other health conditions, smoking and exercise.

While this study did not prove a causal relationship between omega-3 intake and brain preservation, it is plausible intake of these fats, which our bodies cannot synthesize but have to get from oily fish, could affect brain volume.  DHA accounts for 30%-40% of the fatty acids in brain cell membranes, and it is especially concentrated near the synapses where nerve cells communicate with one another. 

What to do:  Fish high in omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, herring, mackerel, tuna, and sardines. To maintain blood levels comparable to the study’s participants with high blood levels, one would need to eat fatty fish or take a fish oil supplement most days of the week.    

Source: 

Pottala JV, Yaffe K, J. G. Robinson JG, Espeland MA, Wallace R, & Harris WS.  Higher RBC EPA DHA corresponds with larger total brain and hippocampal volumes: WHIMS-MRI Study. Neurology, online January 22, 2014. Available at DOI:10.1212/WNL.0000000000000080 

Adapted from articles available at:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140122170541.htm

http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2014012312480001.html