high levels of arachadonic acid found in brain's of alzheimers patients

johnyq

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and more than that, controlling that level of AA in the brain helped control the symptoms of alzheimers. See article:


Fatty acids clue to Alzheimer's Brain

Scientists want to know more about the brain changes that lead to Alzheimer's

Controlling the level of a fatty acid in the brain could help treat Alzheimer's disease, an American study has suggested.

Tests on mice showed that reducing excess levels of the acid lessened animals' memory problems and behavioural changes.

Writing in Nature Neuroscience, the team said fatty acid levels could be controlled through diet or drugs.

A UK Alzheimer's expert called the work "robust and exciting".

There are currently 700,000 people living with dementia in the UK, but that number is forecast to double within a generation.



Scientists from Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and the University of California looked at fatty acids in the brains of normal mice and compared them with those in mice genetically engineered to have an Alzheimer's-like condition.

They identified raised levels of a fatty acid called arachidonic acid in the brains of the Alzheimer's mice.


This is cause for cautious optimism, as fatty acid levels can be controlled to some extent by diet and drugs
Rebecca Wood, Alzheimer's Research Trust

Its release is controlled by the PLA2 enzyme.

The scientists again used genetic engineering to lower PLA2 levels in the animals, and found that even a partial reduction halted memory deterioration and other impairments.

Dr Rene Sanchez-Mejia, who worked on the study, said: "The most striking change we discovered in the Alzheimer's mice was an increase in arachidonic acid and related metabolites [products] in the hippocampus, a memory centre that is affected early and severely by Alzheimer's disease."

He suggested too much arachidonic acid might over-stimulate brain cells, and that lowering levels allowed them to function normally.

Dr Lennart Mucke, who led the research, added: "In general, fatty acid levels can be regulated by diet or drugs.

"Our results have important therapeutic implications because they suggest that inhibition of PLA2 activity might help prevent neurological impairments in Alzheimer's disease.

"But a lot more work needs to be done before this novel therapeutic strategy can be tested on humans."

'Cautious optimism'

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the UK's Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "This research on mice suggests a connection between fatty acids and the abnormal brain activity that exists in Alzheimer's disease.

"This is cause for cautious optimism, as fatty acid levels can be controlled to some extent by diet and drugs.

"However, it is not yet clear if these findings are applicable to humans, and a lot more research is needed before any human trials can be conducted."

Professor Clive Ballard, director of Research at the Alzheimer's Society, said the work was "robust and exciting".

He added: "This is a novel and potentially exciting area of research, but it is still at a very early stage.

"Much more research is needed to see if fatty acids could lead to a treatment for those living with the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease."
BBC NEWS | Health | Fatty acids clue to Alzheimer's
 

redemption79

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Interesting stuff. Granted it's one isolated study, but interesting none the less. This could raise concern in regards to taking AA for bodybuilding purposes, and the long term effects that could be associated with this. (Although there isn't any actual evidence to support this claim here, just an intuitive precaution IMO).
But more so, this is a pretty exciting possibility for people who are, or no someone who is, suffering from this disease. That could be an incredible benefit to someone's life to be able to restore proper brain function through possible supplementation/prescription.
 
djbombsquad

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Huh? What is that? I forgot what you said. just kidding.
 
BBR

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I certainly wouldnt be supplementing AA until we could be certain there'd be no long term sides.
 
tribaltek

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It seems like the past 3 issues of Muscular Development have had articles bashing AA as well.

Never tried the stuff myself. Glad I didn't...
 
crazyfool405

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Interesting stuff. Granted it's one isolated study, but interesting none the less. This could raise concern in regards to taking AA for bodybuilding purposes, and the long term effects that could be associated with this. (Although there isn't any actual evidence to support this claim here, just an intuitive precaution IMO).
But more so, this is a pretty exciting possibility for people who are, or no someone who is, suffering from this disease. That could be an incredible benefit to someone's life to be able to restore proper brain function through possible supplementation/prescription.
i dont know the study but this may have been because they eliminated all omega 3s in the diet ??? i dont know the whole study. but most people get an over aboundance of omega 6 and if you use omega 3s with it, it shouldnt be a problem (but this study is something i wanna look into) The brain has a certain ratio of omega 3:6 and when disturbed past a certain point for too long then maybe it would be an issue, but intil then i dont know exactly how much we can rely on this one study


you have a pub med article or anything? or just a news article?
 

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