Surely this Couldn't be Monty's Problem?. . . Could it?

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Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 03:42:00 GMT

 Fish oil supplements slow ageing of brain

21/12/2004 - People who eat oily fish or take fish oil supplements
score 13 per cent higher in IQ tests and are less likely to show
early signs of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study in
Scotland.

The study, carried out on more than 300 people, lends support to the
benefits of fish oil - already taken to protect the heart - for
mental health and particularly for its protective effects against
Alzheimer's.
Dementia already affects millions around the world and the threat is
increasing with the growing numbers of elderly. Alzheimer's disease,
the leading cause of dementia in the elderly, afflicts an estimated
4.5 million people in the US alone.

A team from the University of Aberdeen and the University of
Edinburgh gathered data from people who had taken part in a national
IQ survey in 1947, when they were aged 11, and tested them again in
2000-01 when they were aged 64. The researchers used a questionnaire
to find out about omega-3 levels from the subjects' diet and
supplement use, and tested their plasma levels of omega-3.

Writing in this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (vol
80, no 6, pp1650-1657), the researchers report that cognitive
function in the 64-year-olds was higher if they were supplement
users than if they did not take supplements.

After adjustment for childhood IQ, tests for mental speed found food
supplement users to have a higher score.

Lawrence Whalley, a professor of mental health at Aberdeen
University and head of the research team, told The Times that there
was evidence that fish oils slow the ageing of the brain by reducing
inflammation.

"The big difference we found was not in memory but in mental speed,"
he told the paper. "The brains of fish oil users seemed to be
faster. There was a strong relationship between mental test scores
and the omega-3 content in the blood."

"The results suggest to me that they have younger brains than the
non-users. The ageing of their brain is being slowed down by a year
or two."

Happy Holidays, Monty, Larry Hoover, MattLB!
MikeV

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