DHA Alzheimer's hope

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".

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend