Study: Eating Fish Once Weekly Reduces Risk of Alzheimer's

Older people who eat fish once a week may reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a study reported in the July issue of the Archives of Neurology.

Martha Clare Morris of Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago and her colleagues examined whether consumption of fish and other foods rich in n-3 fatty acids were associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease.

"Our findings suggest that consumption of fish at least weekly, oil-based salad dressings and nuts may reduce the risk of Alzheimer disease," the researchers concluded.

Morris and her team studied 815 residents between the ages of 65 to 94 years old who lived in a south side Chicago community and did not have Alzheimer's disease at the beginning of the study. The participants completed a dietary questionnaire an average of 2.3 years before they were evaluated for Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers found that 131 participants developed Alzheimer's disease over an average follow-up period of 3.9 years. Participants who ate fish once a week or more had a 60 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease compared with those who rarely or never ate fish. The researchers found that this association remained unchanged when they adjusted for consumption of other dietary fats and vitamin E.

Morris said these findings coupled with previous studies on animals that found that dietary n-3 fatty acids increased learning acquisition and memory performance provide a strong basis for further study through epidemiologic investigations and clinical trials.

Other sources: Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center