CRON Prevents Alzheimer's???

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Hi folks:

" Do Carbs, Calories Affect Alzheimer's Risk?

Thursday, January 13, 2005

By Miranda Hitti

Reducing calorie and carbohydrate intake may affect Alzheimer's

disease risk.

In a recent experiment, mice eating fewer calories and carbohydrates

than those allowed to eat all they wanted showed no signs of

Alzheimer's-like disease, even though they had been bred to have the

condition.

But don't jump to conclusions. It's too soon to know if the same is

true for people, says psychiatry professor Giulio Pasinetti,

MD, PhD.

" While it is far too early for us to make specific recommendations

for human diets, these findings provide the first solid evidence that

dietary changes may prove to be a new approach to treatment and

prevention of this devastating disease, " says Pasinetti in a news

release.

Pasinetti and colleagues from New York's Mount Sinai Medical School

conducted the experiment. Their findings are due to appear in

February in The FJ Express.

Fewer Carbs and Calories

The researchers wanted to see if cutting calories was beneficial

against Alzheimer's. Other studies have suggested that consuming too

many calories might be an Alzheimer's risk factor.

" There is epidemiological evidence that humans who consume reduced

calorie diets have a lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease, " says

Pasinetti in the news release.

Pasinetti's team used mice bred to have an Alzheimer's-like brain

disease. When the mice were 3 months old, the researchers divided

them into two groups. One group ate a standard rodent diet. The other

mice got 30 percent fewer calories. Calories were trimmed by reducing

carbohydrates. Protein, fat, cholesterol, vitamins, and minerals were

the same in both groups of mice.

After nine months, the mice brains were examined. The low-calorie,

low-carb group " almost completely " avoided forming plaque in their

brains, say the researchers. The same sort of plaque has been found

in deceased Alzheimer's patients' brains.

The low-carb, low-calorie mice also matured normally and maintained a

healthy weight.

" This rather mild change in diet resulted in a remarkable measure of

disease prevention, " says Pasinetti in the news release.

The mice on the standard rodent diet weren't as fortunate. They got

no dietary protection against their brain disease. They also gained

weight.

The low-calorie, low-carb diet may have unleashed a helpful chemical

chain reaction. The low-calorie, low-carb mice had higher levels of a

chemical that may break down plaque's building blocks. That could

have thwarted the plaque components before they had a chance to

aggregate and clog the brain.

The researchers don't know that for sure. It's possible that the low-

calorie diet influenced the brain in other ways. But there's enough

reason to keep studying diet and Alzheimer's, they conclude. "

Rodney.