Alzheimer Disease (AD) is a condition that has doubled since 1980, currently affecting just under 5 million Americans, but expected to affect 16 million by 2050¹.  AD currently costs our healthcare system over $100 billion each year².  Fortunately, there are some simple ways to help maintain mental health, including eating apples³, drinking green tea⁴fish oil⁵ and vitamin E⁶.  Now a new study⁷ has found that grape seed extract (GSPE), found previously to help with colon health⁸ and blood pressure health⁹ may help with mental health and AD.

 

Previous research has shown that red wine improves mental health performance related to AD^{(10, 11)}.  Building on these findings, a group of 16 mice known to have higher death rates due to brain degeneration similar to AD (called Tg2576 mice) were given either 200 mg per kg of bodyweight per day of GSPE or placebo for five months.  This amount of GSPE is equivalent to a human dose of 1 gram per day using Food and Drug Administration criteria for converting drug equivalent dosages across species¹².  The researchers then examined brain tissue to assess levels of proteins called “amyloid beta protein” in the brain, which is considered a “major risk factor” for the onset of AD¹³.

 

At the end of five months, the researchers found that GSPE “significantly inhibited” formation of the amyloid-beta protein, with amyloid beta protein levels that were 25% higher in the placebo group compared to the GSPE group.  When looking at the area of the brain that had seen plaque buildup, GSPE resulted in plaque levels that were 49% lower than seen in the placebo group.  What’s more, no decreases in liver function were observed in both groups, demonstrating the safety of 1 gram of GSPE extract per day.

 

For the researchers, “Our study suggests that grape seed-derived polyphenolics may be useful agents to prevent or treat AD.”

 

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at http://www.completechiropractichealthcare.com/

 

Reference:

 

¹  Hebert, LE; Scherr, PA; Bienias, JL; Bennett, DA; Evans, DA. “Alzheimer Disease in the U.S. Population: Prevalence Estimates Using the 2000 Census.” Archives of Neurology August 2003; 60 (8): 1119 – 1122

²  Ernst, RL; Hay, JW. “The U.S. Economic and Social Costs of Alzheimer’s Disease Revisited.” American Journal of Public Health 1994; 84(8): 1261 – 1264

³  Lee, C. Y. (2004). "Protective Effects of Quercetin and Vitamin C against Oxidative Stress-Induced Neurodegeneration." Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52: 7514-7517

⁴  Tan J.  Green Tea Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate (EGCG) Modulates Amyloid Precursor Protein Cleavage and Reduces Cerebral Amyloidosis in Alzheimer Transgenic Mice  J. Neurosci. 2005 25: 8807-8814

⁵  Wurtman RJ.  Synaptic proteins and phospholipids are increased in gerbil brain by administering uridine plus docosahexaenoic acid orally.  In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 21 April 2006 in Brain Research

 

⁶  American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting 15 April 2008, Poster Sessions III: Aging and Dementia: Clinical II [P03.076] Vitamin E Use Is Associated with Improved Survival in an AD Cohort Authors: V. Pavlik, R. Doody, S. Rountree, E. Darby

 

⁷  Wang J.  Grape-Derived Polyphenolics Prevent Aâ Oligomerization and Attenuate Cognitive Deterioration in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.  Journal of Neurosci 2008; 28(25):6388-6392; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0364-08.2008

 

⁸  Kaur M.  Grape Seed Extract Inhibits In vitro and In vivo Growth of Human Colorectal Carcinoma Cells.  Clin Cancer Res 2006 12: 6194-6202

 

⁹  ”Study Shows Grape Seed Extract May Be Effective In Reducing Blood Pressure” posted on Science Daily March 27, 2006 www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060327084242.htm

 

¹⁰  Wang J, Ho L, Qin W, Rocher AB, Seror I, Humala N, Maniar K, Dolios G, Wang R, Hof PR, Pasinetti GM (2005) Caloric restriction attenuates beta-amyloid neuropathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. FASEB J 19:659–661

 

¹¹  Luchsinger JA, Tang MX, Siddiqui M, Shea S, Mayeux R (2004) Alcohol intake and risk of dementia. J Am Geriatr Soc 52:540–546

 

¹²  FDA Website www.fda.gov/cber/gdlns/dose.htm

 

¹³  Klyubin I, Walsh DM, Lemere CA, Cullen WK, Shankar GM, Betts V, Spooner ET, Jiang L, Anwyl R, Selkoe DJ, Rowan MJ (2005) Amyloid beta protein immunotherapy neutralizes Abeta oligomers that disrupt synaptic plasticity in vivo. Nat Med 11:556–56