Dementia Diet

Diet may lower risk for Alzheimer's.
Bloomberg News (4/13, Tirrell) reports that, according to a study published online April 12 in the Archives of Neurology, elderly people "who adhered most to diets rich in dark, leafy vegetables, poultry, fish, and nuts and low in red meat, butter, and fatty dairy products had a 38 percent lower risk of getting Alzheimer's disease than those who followed that plan the least." Study author Nikolaos Scarmeas, MD, MS, theorized that "these foods may protect blood vessels in the brain, preventing tiny strokes that may contribute to Alzheimer's."
Researchers followed more than 2,100 "New York City residents over age 65 for about four years, assessing each subject for cognitive deficits at least three times," the Los Angeles Times (4/12, Healy) "Booster Shots" blog reported. "At the same time, the researchers broke down their dietary reports to gauge their intake of seven nutrients: saturated fatty acids; monounsaturated fatty acids; Omega-3 and Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids; vitamin E, vitamin B12 and folate." They discovered that "of the 682 subjects whose diets ranked in the top third of the group in intake of vitamin E, folate, and poly- and monounsaturated fats (nutrients found in poultry, fish, vegetables, and most nuts and vegetable oils), just 50 subjects (or 7%) developed Alzheimer's disease."