Researchers from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine have found that Omega-3 fish oil may be effective in preventing alcohol-related dementia.
Previous studies have linked alcohol consumption, even in moderate levels to an increased risk of developing dementia. In a new study conducted by Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, researchers found that this risk can be warded off by consuming omega 3 fish oil. The recently conducted study found that brain cells of rats that had been exposed to high contents of alcohol could be protected against inflammation and cell death when given fish oil.
Michael A. Collins, Ph.D., who led the research examined the results of 143 previously conducted studies. A previous study by Collns and colleagues had found that moderate drinking can affect the brain cells, helping them cope with major stresses down the road. The researchers exposed the cultures of adult rat brain cells to alcohol equivalent to more than four times the legal limit of driving. The cell cultures were then compared with cultures of brain cells that were exposed to the same high levels of alcohol, plus a compound found in fish oil called omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Researchers found there was about 90 percent less neuroinflammation and neuronal death in the brain cells exposed to DHA and alcohol than in the cells exposed to alcohol alone.
"Fish oil has the potential of helping preserve brain integrity in abusers," Collins said in a press release. "At the very least, it wouldn't hurt them."
Yet researchers note that the best way to prevent alcohol abuse is to quit drinking or drink in moderation.
"We don't want people to think it's okay to take a few fish oil capsules and then continue to go on abusing alcohol," Collin concluded.
Findings of the study were presented Sept. 8 at the 14th Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism in Warsaw.
