Improving Your Memory with Omega 3's

I see cognitive decline in various stages, at a wide spectrum of ages, in my patient population. There are a lot of things that can accelerate the breakdown of our neurons (our brain/nervous system tissues). One of the nutrients that has been shown to help protect the brain and slow or stop degeneration of our neurons is DHA, one of a group of Omega 3 fatty acids. I have attached some interested studies below for your edification.

Omega-3 Improves Age-Related Cognitive Decline: DHA consumption increases cognitive test scores.  Helps brains function as if three years younger.

The Memory Improvement with DHA Study (MIDAS) involved 485 healthy older people with an average age of 70 and a mild memory complaint. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either 900 mg per day of DHA or placebo for 6 months. Results of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-centre study showed that participants taking DHA supplements made significantly fewer errors on the Paired Associate Learning (PAL) test compared to when they started the study. 

Furthermore, plasma DHA levels doubled during the study in the DHA group, and correlated with the PAL response. The researchers also noted a significant decrease in heart rate in the DHA group, while blood pressure and weight did not change. Six month supplementation with DHA (900mg/d) improves memory function and decreases heart rate in healthy older adults with ARCD. This improvement on the PAL is associated with a shift in the normative distribution to a younger age, wrote the MIDAS investigators.

DHA May Prevent Age-Related Dementia

The risk for dementia, a major contributor to incapacitation and institutionalization, rises rapidly as we age, doubling every 5 years after age 65. Tens of millions of new Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementia cases are projected as elderly populations increase around the world, creating a projected dementia epidemic for which most nations are not prepared. Thus, there is an urgent need for prevention approaches that are safe, effective, and affordable. This review addresses the potential of one promising candidate, the (n-3) fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which appears to slow pathogenesis of AD and possibly vascular dementia. DHA is pleiotropic, acting at multiple steps to reduce the production of the B-amyloid peptide, widely believed to initiate AD. DHA moderates some of the kinases that hyperphosphorylate the t-protein, a component of the neurofibrillary tangle. DHA may help suppress insulin/neurotrophic factor signaling deficits, neuroinflammation, and oxidative damage that contribute to synaptic loss and neuronal dysfunction in dementia. Finally, DHA increases brain levels of neuroprotective brain-derived neurotrophic factor and reduces the (n-6) fatty acid arachidonate and its prostaglandin metabolites that have been implicated in promoting AD. Clinical trials suggest that DHA or fish oil alone can slow early stages of progression, but these effects may be apolipoprotein E genotype specific, and larger trials with very early stages are required to prove efficacy. We advocate early intervention in a prodromal period with nutrigenomically defined subjects with an appropriately designed nutritional supplement, including DHA and antioxidants.

J. Nutr. doi: 10.3945/jn.109.113910.

Departments of Medicine and Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; and Geriatric Research, Education,and Clinical Center, Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, VA Medical Center, North Hills, CA 91343