Study: Omega-3 Reduces Dementia Risk

Docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid found in fish, appears to reduce the risk of dementia, found U.S. researchers.

Dr. Ernst J. Schaefer of the Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University studied the association between DHA levels and dementia in the blood of 899 men and women who were part of the population-based Framingham Heart Study.

The participants, who had an average age of 76 years, provided blood samples and underwent neuropsychological testing. They were followed for an average of nine years.

Through the nine-year study period, 99 out of 899 participants developed dementia, including 71 with Alzheimer’s disease. After controlling for other known risk factors for dementia, including age and homocysteine levels, the researchers found that men and women with the highest DHA levels had a 47 percent lower risk of developing dementia and 39 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than the others. Those with the top DHA levels reported that they ate an average of three fish servings a week.

The findings are published in the Archives of Neurology.