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The Truth About Alzheimer's and Blueberries

Ella Traver | ElderThink | 12.8.10

 

In 2007, researchers from Tufts, Louisiana State, and the National Institute on Aging conducted a study to learn about the effects of blueberries on Alzheimer's Disease. Yes, the study involved rats instead of humans, but in this case, the researchers were looking at the specific inflammation in the brain caused by AD. That inflammation produces a Kainic Acid whether you are a rat or a person. These researchers concluded that the chemicals in blueberries (polyphenols) acted as an antioxidant and protected the brain from Kainic Acid.

 

So we all started to eat lots of blueberries. Then I stumbled upon an interview with an old friend, Dr. Robert Krikorian from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Krikorian says it is the polyphenols that are important and we should look at other foods too. Mostly fruits and vegetables, he says, but red grape juice is definitely loaded with polyphenols. Dr. Krikorian says wild blueberries are loaded with polyphenols and, based on his most current findings, produce a better response to memory tests.

 

So now it's blueberries, but wild ones, AND red grape juice. Wonder what will be next. Plums maybe? How about red wine?

 

 

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The ElderThinker Inteview With A Psychologist Who Tests for Alzheimer's

 

 

Breakthroughs In
Alzheimer's Research

Discovery Could Lead To Drug That Halts

Neurogenerative Diseases Including Alzheimer's

Gretchen Heuring | ElderThink | 12.7.10

 

Investigators at Southern Methodist University and The University of Texas at Dallas have discovered a family of small molecules that shows promise in protecting brain cells against nerve-degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's, which afflict millions.


Dallas-based startup EncephRx, Inc. was granted the worldwide license to the jointly owned compounds. A biotechnology and therapeutics company, EncephRx will develop drug therapies Edward Biehlbased on the new class of compounds as a pharmaceutical for preventing nerve-cell damage, delaying onset of degenerative nerve disease and improving symptoms.


Treatments currently in use don't stop or reverse degenerative nerve diseases, but instead only alleviate symptoms, sometimes with severe side effects. If proved effective and nontoxic in humans, EncephRx's small- molecule pharmaceutical would be the first therapeutic tools able to stop affected brain cells from dying.


"Our compounds protect against neurodegeneration in mice," said synthetic organic chemist Edward R. Biehl, the Chemistry Department professor who led development of the compounds at SMU. "Given successful development of the compounds into drug therapies, they would serve as an effective treatment for patients with degenerative brain diseases."

 

Ten Signs of Alzheimer's Alzheimer's Treatments
Alheimer's Research Breakthroughs Is Alzheimer's Inherited? If You Have Alzheimer's
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