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Senior Citizens Slow Cognitive Decline Eating Fish
Weekly
Up to 13% reduction is the equivalent of being three
to four years younger
 Oct.
11, 2005 - Consuming fish at least once a week was associated with a 10
percent per year slower rate of cognitive decline in elderly people,
according to a new study posted online yesterday from Archives of
Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The study will be
published in the December print edition of the journal.
Fish is a direct source of omega-3 fatty acids,
which have been shown to be essential for neurocognitive development and
normal brain functioning, according to background information in the
article.
Fish consumption has been associated with lower
risk of dementia and stroke and recent studies have suggested that
consumption of one omega-3 fatty acid in particular, docosahexaenoic
acid (DHA), is important for memory performance in aged animals.
Martha Clare Morris, Sc.D., of Rush University
Medical Center, Chicago, and colleagues analyzed six years of data from
an ongoing study of Chicago residents, 65 years and older, first
interviewed between 1993 and 1997 and every three years in two follow-up
interviews. Interviews included four standardized cognitive tests and
dietary questions on the frequency of consumption of 139 different
foods, as well as questions of daily activities, exercise levels,
alcohol consumption and medical history.
"Dietary intake of fish was inversely associated
with cognitive decline over six years in this older, biracial community
study," the researchers report.
"The rate of decline was reduced by 10 percent to
13 percent per year among persons who consumed one or more fish meals
per week compared with those with less than weekly consumption. The rate
reduction is the equivalent of being three to four years younger in
age."
The researchers examined whether overall dietary
consumption patterns accounted for the association of cognitive decline
and fish consumption, but the rate differences did not change after
adjusting for consumption of fruit and vegetables.
"Cognitive decline is common among older people and
is very much associated with advancing age," the authors write. "Our
data offer no insight as to whether this cognitive decline is
pathological or the result of a normal aging process. Nonetheless, data
from the United States and other countries indicate that it is a
widespread and increasing public health problem."
"This study suggests that eating one or more fish
meals per week may protect against cognitive decline associated with
older age," the authors conclude. "More precise studies of the different
dietary constituents of fish should help to understand the nature of the
association."
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