Grape seed extract may help prevent Alzheimer's

A study conducted by J Wang and colleagues from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York suggests that taking grape seed extract supplements may help prevent or even treat Alzheimer's disease.

SUNDAY June 29, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study conducted by J Wang and colleagues from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York suggests that taking grape seed extract supplements may help prevent or even treat Alzheimer's disease.

Published on June 18 in the Journal of Neuroscience, the study showed that grape seed polyphenolic extract significantly inhibits amyloid beta-protein aggregation into high-molecular-weight oligomers in vitro.

The study also showed that when orally administered to lab mice, the extract dramatically attenuates the cognitive deterioration commonly experienced by Alzheimer's patients.

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive impairments in memory and cognition. There is no cure for the disease.

Extracellular accumulation of soluble high-molecular-weight oligomers has been proposed as being responsible for Alzheimer's dementia and memory deficits in mice with a disorder similar to human Alzheimer’s disease.

By Ben Wasserman, and edited by Heather Kelley.
Jun 29, 2008 - 10:10:13 AM