Omega-3 not effective in halting decline of Alzheimer’s disease, study finds
OMEGA-3 pills do not halt the mental and physical decline in older Alzheimer’s patients, according to a US government study.
Researchers had high hopes that omega-3 might help Alzheimer’s patients because it contains a fatty acid, DHA, that is lacking in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.
“There is no basis for recommending DHA supplementation for patients with Alzheimer’s disease,” the authors wrote in their study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The results of the government-sponsored study highlights “the continued frustration over lack of effective interventions” for the disease, said an editorial published with the study.
The new research tracked the mental decline of nearly 300 men and women, aged 76 on average, with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. They were either given omega-3 supplements or placebos for 18 months. In both groups, the results were similar.
William Thies, scientific director of the Alzheimer’s Association, said in a statement the results indicate, as more researchers are beginning to believe, that interventions at the latter stages of the disease may be too late. Alzheimer’s begins years before it is diagnosed.
“It seems clear that either we have to have more powerful drugs or they have to be used earlier in the course of the disease,” Dr Thies said.
