Juicy Way to Avoid Alzheimer's

[rsrch]

Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Three glasses of fruit or vegetable juice a week might be one way to reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. In a new study, people who drank juice on a regular basis had about a 76-percent lower risk of developing the mind-robbing condition.

The research is based on 1,836 people of Japanese descent living in the Seattle area who were tested for cognitive function every two years for up to a decade. Investigators also collected information on diet.

None of the participants had any signs of Alzheimer's or other cognitive problems at the beginning of the study. By the end, those who reported drinking at least three glasses of juice every week were 76-percent less likely to develop these problems than those who reported drinking one glass per week or less.

The effect was particularly striking for people who carried a gene linked to the most common form of the disorder, late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

So, what is it about fruit and vegetable juices that keeps the brain in good working order? The researchers write that because other studies have ruled out antioxidant vitamins like C, E, and beta-carotene in preventing Alzheimer's, they wonder whether another type of antioxidant might be doing the trick instead.

Polyphenols, which are also found in wine, have been linked to a delay in age-related cognitive problems in animal studies, and they've also been shown to extend maximum lifespan in these studies by nearly 60 percent.

The authors now plan to take their research to the next level by testing the blood of participants for polyphenols to see if levels are related to the development of cognitive problems like Alzheimer's.

"Future studies are necessary to confirm our findings and to investigate how intake of different fruit and vegetable juices relate to the risk of Alzheimer's disease," write the investigators.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: The American Journal of Medicine, 2006;119:751-759