People who eat baked or broiled fish at least once a week may improve
their brain health and cut the risk of developing memory problems or
Alzheimer's disease, according to a study presented today at the
Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting in Chicago.
en years later, three-dimension al MRI brain scans were obtained for
each participant. The researchers then did a brain mapping analysis on
these scans that measured gray matter, which is crucial to brain
health."This is a mathematical way of understanding the influence of
fish intake on the brain," says Cyrus Raji, M.D., the lead author.
Taking into account factors such as age, sex, physical activity,
obesity and education, the researchers determined that people who ate
fish weekly had large amounts of gray matter in areas of the brainthat
are related to Alzheimer's and mild cognitive impairment, a subtle but
measurable memory disorder. Althoughprevious studies have linked
eating fish to brain health, the researchers say this is the first
study to establish a direct relationship between fish consumption,
brain structure and Alzheimer's risk.
"Specific areas of gray matter in the brain are smaller in people with
Alzheimer's because the disease slices away at these regions cell by
cell," says neuropsychologi st James Becker, a senior author of the
study. If you start out with stronger, larger brain cells, however, it
will take longer before the disease destroys so many cells that
behavior and thinking start to change, Becker says.
Many people say that Alzheimer's is genetic and there's nothing you
can do about your genes, notes Becker. "That's true. But even if
you're destined to develop Alzheimer's you can delay the point at
which the disease shows its face," he says. "Look at it this way. If
you drive a four-cylinder car and one of the cylinders blows, you're
in a lot of trouble. But if you drive an eight-cylinder car and a
cylinder blows, you may not be in good shape but you can still get to
where you're going. This is the biologicalequivalent of building in
anextra four cylinders so that even if something goes wrong you've
still got a lot of oomph left."
The researchers noted that regular servings of baked or broiled fish
promote stronger brain cells in gray matter by making them larger and
healthier; greater volume could reduce the risk for a five-year
decline in mental skills by almost fivefold.
Although the study didn't identify the specific kinds of fish
participants ate, pastresearch ties fatty fish such as salmon,
mackerel and herring, which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, to brain
health. Scientists already know that eating these fish can protect the
heart. It turns out that theyalso protect the brain. Friedfish, on the
other hand, provides no such benefits."Frying changes the chemical
composition of the omega-3 fatty acids, causing them to break down so
there's less available," says Becker.
"There's a growing awareness that what we eat can affect our brain,"
says Scott Small, M.D., a Columbia University neurologist who was not
involved in the research."This interesting paper is a critical first
step in pointingout a link between eating fish and reducing the risk
of cognitive decline."
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'' Our Lord ! grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter and save us from the torment of the Fire '' [Ameen]
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{in Arab} :->
Rabbanaa aatinaa fid-dunyaa hasanatan wafil aakhirati hasanatan waqinaa 'athaaban-naar/-
(Surah Al-Baqarah ,verse 201)
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