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Further Evidence Of Fish Consumption Link To Lower Alzheimer Risk

Men and women who eat fish or seafood at least once a week are at lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, a large long term study among French elderly indicates.

Using the data from an ongoing study among the aging in France, Dr Pascale Barberger-Gateau and colleagues at the Universite Victor Segalen, Bordeaux, decided to test the evidence for any relationship between the risk of dementia from the consumption of fish, rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids or meat, rich in saturated fatty acids.

The researchers enrolled 1,674 men and women aged 68 and over, who were living at home in south-western France. None suffered from dementia at the start of this arm of the aging study. How often they ate meat, fish and seafood, was assessed at either daily, at least once a week (but not every day); from time to time (but not every week); or never.

Researchers followed up the cohort at two, five and seven years. If a member of the cohort exhibited signs of dementia between follow-up years, based on criteria of DSM III R, they were also assessed by a neurologist.

During the seven years of follow up, Dr Barberger-Gateau and colleagues found 170 new cases of dementia , including 135 cases of Alzheimer's disease. There was a significant trend between increasing consumption of fish or seafood food and decreasing incidence of dementia. Research showed no significant association between meat consumption and risk of dementia.

Men and women who were more highly educated (83.6 percent) had a higher consumption of fish or seafood, and eating it at least once a week.

Researchers point out that similar findings about a protective effect from fish and seafood consumption emerged in the earlier Rotterdam Study by Dutch clinicians, but the follow-up among cohorts lasted only just over two years.

In addition to providing vascular protection, the polyunsaturated fatty acids contained in fish oils " could reduce inflammation in the brain and may have a specific role in brain development and regeneration of nerve cells, " the researchers conclude. Highly educated people also may adhere more closely to dietary recommendations on fish consumption.
BMJ 2002; 325: 932-3.

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