FISH OIL FATTY ACID
High DHA Intake Linked to Less Dementia Development

ORLANDO, FLA - People who ate an average of 180 mg or more a day of docosahexaenoic acis (DHA), a fatty acid found in fish, oil, had about 40% less Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, compared with people who consumed less DHA, according to epidemiologic data collected in the Framingham Heart Study.

This level of DHA intake was equivalent to three or more fish meals a week, but it could also come from fish oil supplements, Dr. Ernst J. Schaefer said at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association.

Prior reports have linked fish consumption with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease, but this is the first study to identify DHA as the critical dietary factor. "About 4% of the fat in blood is DHA, but about half of the fat in brain is DHA," said Dr. Ernst Schaefer, director of the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory in the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston.

The study included 899 participants in the Framingham Heart Study who were examined during 1986-1990. At baseline, the average fish consumption was teo meals a week, and average DHA intake was 130 mg/day. People who has three or more fish meals a week and ate at least 180 mg of DHA per day formed the upper quartile of consumption in both categories. During follow-up, 71 people developed Alzheimer's disease and 28 developed another form of dementia.

In a multivariate analysis, people in the highest quartile of plasma DHA level had 47% less dementia and 39% less Alzheimer's disease, compared with all the other study participants. Those in the highest quartile of DHA intake had 43% less dementia and 37% less Alzheimer's disease. In contrast, the rates of dementia and Alzheimer's disease were not linked with any other plasma component measured, including arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and ?-tocopherol.

The study was sponsored by Pfizer and by Marted Biosciences, which markets a DHA supplement.

-Mitchel L. Zoler

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