08.27.09
Indication: Alzheimer's disease
Source: Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's disease (ICAD 2009), July 11, Vienna, Austria
Research: Researchers from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) recruited 402 people (average age=76) diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimer's at 51 sites in the U.S. to participate in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. At the beginning of the trial, all participants had a dietary DHA intake of less than 200 mg per day. Subjects were treated with DHA or placebo at a dose of two grams per day for 18 months. Those participants already taking approved Alzheimer's drugs could continue taking them during the trial. Co-primary outcomes were rate of change on the Alzheimer's disease assessment scale-cognitive (ADAS-cog) and rate of change on Clinical Dementia Scale-sum of the boxes (CDR-SOB). These two measures are the current standard tests used by FDA when assessing new Alzheimer's drugs.
Results: According to the researchers, treatment with DHA clearly increased blood levels of DHA, and also appeared to increase brain DHA levels, based on a measured increase of DHA in study participants' cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). However, DHA treatment did not slow the rate of change on tests of mental function (ADAS-cog), global dementia severity status (CDR-SOB), activities of daily living (ADL) or behavioral symptoms (NPI) in the study population as a whole. As a result, there was no different treatment effect between the mild and moderate Alzheimer's patients. In fact, the lead researcher in the study went as far as to say that these trial results do not support the routine use of DHA for patients with Alzheimer's.