Brain HealthFish Oil Reaches the Brain but Fails to Protect Memory in Two-Year Alzheimer's Risk Trial
Fish oil supplements are a billion-dollar business, and many older adults take them hoping to protect their memory. A new two-year randomized trial from Keck Medicine of USC suggests the hope may be misplaced. Researchers enrolled 365 adults aged 55 to 80 who rarely ate fish and were at higher risk for Alzheimer's disease; 47% carried the APOE4 gene variant. Half took 2,000 mg of DHA daily, an omega-3 fatty acid, and half took a placebo. The supplement did raise omega-3 levels in the brain, so delivery was not the problem. Even so, participants showed no meaningful gains in memory or thinking skills, and no protection against Alzheimer's-related brain shrinkage compared with placebo. The researchers suspect that omega-3s eaten as part of a healthy diet may offer benefits a single isolated supplement cannot match. The results do not support fish oil as a way to prevent Alzheimer's.
