Superfruit blueberry proves its powerful wonder once again as experts discovered that it may help fight Alzheimer's disease.
Adding to its beneficial anti-cancer and heart disease-preventive effects is blueberry's ability to curb neurocognitive decline in patients with this type of dementia.
"Our new findings corroborate those of previous animal studies and preliminary human studies, adding further support to the notion that blueberries can have a real benefit in improving memory and cognitive function in some older adults," says study lead author Robert Krikorian.
Beneficial Blueberry
Blueberry is rich in antioxidants and flavonoids known as anthocyanins, which are said to improve the cognitive attributes of animals.
To investigate, scientists from the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center performed two human follow up studies to see the effects of earlier clinical testings.
The 47 adult participants of the first study all had mild cognitive disturbances and were aged 68 years and above. The research team provided them either a placebo powder or a blueberry powder, which is equal to about a cup of fresh berries. The subjects were instructed to take these items once daily for 16 weeks.
The findings of the study show that those who took the blueberry powder exhibited more improved brain function and cognitive performance than those who took the placebo powder. Particularly, Krikorian says that the blueberry powder group showed enhanced memory skills and better access to concepts and words.
The participants also underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan, which revealed elevated brain activity for the blueberry powder group.
In the second study, the participants were composed of 94 individuals who only had subjective reports of memory decline. They were aged between 62 to 80 years old.
The authors divided them into four groups. Each of which received either blueberry powder, fish oil, powder plus fish oil or placebo.
Krikorian says the findings were not that strong as the first experiment. In fact, cognitive abilities appear to be better in the powder or fish oil group but there was small effect on memory.
The fMRI also showed less significant results. Krikorian says this may be due to the less severe issues that the participants are currently experiencing.
In the end, Krikorian says their work signifies that blueberry may produce better benefits in the treatment of individuals with cognitive problems, but may produce less significant impacts to those with minor memory problems.
Future Work
The researchers are looking at performing a study with younger participants or those aged between 50 to 65 years old.
They would also like to include subjects at risk of Alzheimer's disease and are obese, hypertensive or have high cholesterol levels. Through this, the team will hopefully determine if blueberries may help prevent the initial rise of Alzheimer's disease symptoms.
Alzheimer's Disease And Neurocognitive Decline
Alzheimer's disease and other conditions that involve the decline of neurocognitive abilities pose a great public health problem.
At present, about 5.3 million people have Alzheimer's disease. Such number is projected to rise given the growing population of elderly people in the U.S.
By the year 2025, Alzheimer's disease patients may rise to over 7 million and by 2050, cases may even triple.
As of now, there is no medical cure for Alzheimer's disease. Management have been focused on preventive and nutritional strategies, which presents possible positive impacts to curb the disease.
The blueberry study was presented at the 251st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on March 13.
