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If you stay attuned to news about Alzheimer's disease, you have likely seen the coverage of a study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluding that fish oil (or the omega-3 fat commonly known as DHA), has no benefit for Alzheimer's patients.
This was a well done study on more than 400 patients and the results were clear. However, as is often the case, readers of the press are advised to interpret specific scientific findings within their specific context, while being careful not to casually generalize the conclusions.
In this case, please keep in mind that the "no benefit" conclusion was drawn with regards to Alzheimer's patients. As we know, the current definition of Alzheimer's disease (although it is evolving) requires "dementia", which means that the subjects in this study had advanced pathology and significant brain damage with extensively impaired cognition. Given that degraded state of the brain, it's really not a surprise that fish oil supplements showed no improvement in cognition.
More importantly, this conclusion should not be generalized as meaning that previously well-established benefits of fish oil have been repudiated. The benefits shown in numerous epidemiological studies have shown that diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
In other words, once you have brain damage due to Alzheimer's disease, it is probably too late for fish oil to benefit your cognition. But earlier, while your brain is still healthy, omega-3 fats probably do have important benefits and likely reduce the risk of Alzheimer's down the road.
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