Sadly, there's no stopping the brain with Alzheimer's disease from declining. Good news is, latest study suggests that there's a way for the decline to slow down. In the largest and longest study conducted, there seems to be some encouraging news about resveratrol found in red wine, grapes and dark chocolate.
Dr. R. Scott Turner, professor of Neurology and Director of the Memory Disorders program in Georgetown University Medical Center and his team have discovered that resveratrol may keep Alzheimer's from progressing as reported in Time. Resveratrol have been touted as a cure for cancer, diabetes and neurological problems but so far evidence supporting these claims are limited to laboratory and animal trials. In this latest study which was published in Neurology, Dr. Scott and his team created a purified form of resveratrol which they randomly assigned to half of 119 men and women. This group took 1,000 milligrams of resveratrol daily and the other half took a placebo for a year. All of the participants were diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
Those in the placebo group showed typical signs of Alzheimer's progressing including a decline of amyloid beta protein in their blood, a sign that this compound are being deposited in their brains. The resveratrol group on the other hand showed little or no change in the amyloid beta levels in their blood and brain. This group also showed smaller brain volume, which is a positive sign. The disease can actually cause inflammation and swelling that can interfere with nerve connections.
More so, the resveratrol group showed little improvements in their ability to maintain daily activities such as dressing and bathing themselves on their own. But researchers aren't sure how resveratrol may be affecting the Alzheimer's progression. Additionally, they are not suggesting that red wine can cure the disease. The amount of resveratrol in the purified doses they created are very high, likely equivalent to 1,000 bottles of red wine.
"I think resveratrol is an engaging target that's very interesting and could be pharmacologically manipulated to develop a treatment", Dr. Turner said.
