老人癡呆症 / 腦退化症
Dementia
There are currently over 100 different forms of dementia
and according to the UK Alzheimer"s Society: Dementia
currently affects over 750,000 people in the UK. Approximately
18,000 people with dementia are under the age of 65. Dementia
affects one person in 20 over the age of 65 and one person
in five over the age of 80. The number of people with dementia
is steadily increasing. Alzheimer"s disease is the most
common form of dementia, making up 55 per cent of all cases
of dementia. There are nearly 18 million people with dementia
in the world.
Recently clinical trials have been carried out which investigated
the possibility of treating dementia with fatty acids. One
focussed on Huntington"s Chorea, the other on Alzheimer"s
Disease. Both had positive results indicating that some forms
of dementia can be treated with fatty acid supplementation,
specifically with the omega-3 fatty acid, EPA and the omega-6
fatty acid, GLA.
Omega product contains a unique ratio of ultra-pure EPA from marine
fish oil and cold-pressed virgin evening primrose oil (which
is rich in GLA).
Definition of Dementia
The term dementia describes an array of brain disorders that
share the symptom of loss of brain function, which is usually
progressive and ultimately severe. One of the most well known
forms of dementia is Alzheimer"s disease but there are
currently over 100 different forms of it.
As more research is being done into this disease, scientists
are discovering that supplementation with certain fatty acids
may slow the degeneration of brain tissue and in some cases
even improve motor function.
How Fatty Acids Help Dementia
Fatty acids help to form the phospholipids in the brain, which
are vital for cell signalling. Cell signalling is important
for brain function, the degeneration of which is the primary
symptom of dementia.
Without enough fatty acids, communication between our cells
ceases to operate properly and this can have an adverse effect
on brain function. Conversely, with fatty acid supplementation,
cell signalling has been shown to improve.
The Volumetric Niacin Response (VNR) is a special test that
measures cell signalling and brain function. In 2005 Professor
Puri carried out a trial on a small number of patients with
advanced Alzheimer"s disease. He measured their VNR at
the beginning of the six-month trial and again at the end
of it. In the intervening time, half the patients were given
omega product and the other half were given a placebo (a dummy supplement
with no medicinal properties). The trial was double-blind
so neither the patients nor Professor Puri knew who was being
given omega product and who was being given the placebo.
The key findings were as follows: cell signalling continued
to deteriorate in those Alzheimer"s patients who were
taking the placebo. Over the same period, however, those patients
taking omega product actually showed an improvement in their volumetric
niacin response and therefore improved cell signalling in
the body and brain.
Professor Puri, Professor Vaddadi, and colleagues also carried
out trials into the effects of fatty acid supplementation
on patients with Huntington"s chorea. Again improvements
were seen in terms of the amount of brain tissue present as
well as motor function after supplementation wtih fatty acids
compared with the placebo.
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