Omega-3 Supplements May Prevent Dementia

With more than 55 million people already living with it worldwide, and nearly 10 million new cases occurring every year, dementia is now the seventh leading cause of death globally. Despite this, and billions of dollars of pharmaceutical industry investment over the past decades, conventional medicine continues to have no effective means of preventing or eradicating the syndrome. Pointing the way towards a new approach, research has shown that nutritional therapies may have highly beneficial effects.

Research published in 2015 found that in people with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, supplementing with a combination of B vitamins can prevent brain shrinkage, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of dementia). A recent systematic review similarly suggests that B vitamins, especially folic acid, may have a positive effect on delaying and preventing the risk of cognitive decline.

Other research has described how evidence is accumulating that, through taking advantage of their synergistic effects, combinations of antioxidants may be effective not only in preventing Alzheimer’s disease but also in reversing it. As a result, not only are the beneficial effects of nutrition for improving cognitive function and dementia rapidly becoming clear, Alzheimer’s patients, their families, and physicians already now have more effective therapy options available to them than they may realize. As word of this game-changing development begins to spread, a revolution in the practice of neurological medicine may yet be within sight.

To learn how a new meta-analysis supports vitamin C supplementation for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, see this article on our website.