Fish and the yellow pigment in turmeric can slow the progress of Alzheimer's

• Curcumin, the yellow pigment in turmeric, may be the key to the low prevalence of dementia among the elderly in India, where the spice is used in most foods, a team of US researchers has said.
• A team of researchers led by Greg M Cole, a neuroscientist at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, identified curcumin as a potential cure to prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease after they discovered low rates of dementia in India, according to the US Department of Veterans' Affairs.
• The Cole team identified curcumin as a nutrient that appears to combat Alzheimer's plaques.
• They also found that a diet high in docosahexenoic acid or DHA -- an omega-3 fatty acid found in relatively high concentrations in cold-water fish -- dramatically slowed the progression of Alzheimer's in mice.
• "Specifically, DHA cut the harmful brain plaques that mark the disease," the team found.
• The results appear in the March 23 online edition of the Journal of Neuroscience.
• Greg said that unlike many studies with mice, this one points to the benefits of a therapy that is easily available and already recommended for other medical conditions.
• DHA -- either from food sources such as fish and soy, or in fish-oil supplements -- is recommended by many cardiologists for a healthy heart.
• "The good news from this study is that we can buy the therapy at a supermarket or drug store," Cole was quoted as saying.
• "DHA has a tremendous safety profile -- essentially no side effects -- and clinical trial evidence supports giving DHA supplements to people at risk for cardiovascular disease."
• Omega-3 fatty acids are deficient in the American diet, although they are essential for human health.
• DHA in particular is vital to proper brain function, as well as eye health and other body processes.