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   Jul 12

Could STRAWBERRIES keep you sharp? Compound in the fruit prevents age-related mental decline

A compound, known as fisetin, eases cognitive deterioration and inflammation

Mice not treated with fisetin experience cognitive difficulties and stress

Inflammation has been linked to age-related conditions, like Alzheimer’s disease

Previous research has associated fisetin with reduced memory loss in mice

In the mouse study, adding a daily dose of fisetin to food had no safety concerns

Strawberries could help prevent age-related mental decline, new research suggests.

A compound in the fruit, known as fisetin, eases cognitive deterioration and inflammation in mice, a study found.

Mice not treated with fisetin experience cognitive difficulties, as well as stress and inflammation, the research adds.

Previous research has linked fisetin with reduced memory loss in mice genetically-predisposed to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Senior author Pamela Maher, from Salk’s Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory in La Jolla, California, said: ‘Mice are not people, of course. But there are enough similarities that we think fisetin warrants a closer look, not only for potentially treating Alzheimer’s disease but also for reducing some of the cognitive effects associated with aging, generally.’

MISSING JUST ONE NIGHT’S SLEEP INCREASES LEVELS OF A PROTEIN LINKED TO ALZHEIMER’S

Missing just one night’s sleep can increase levels of the brain-clogging protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, a study revealed earlier this month.

While the exact cause of Alzheimer’s disease is unclear, sufferers of the condition have high levels of a sticky plaque in their brain.

This toxic substance, called Amyloid beta, stops brain cells functioning properly.

After just one bad night’s sleep, amyloid levels were 10 per cent higher in an experiment.

The other key signature of Alzheimer’s disease, also a protein, is called Tau, which forms tangly fibres in brain cells. These stop nutrients flowing through the cells.

After a week’s disturbed sleep, levels of this protein also began to increase, according to researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis.

How the study was carried out

Researchers from Salk’s Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory in La Jolla, California, analyzed mice that age prematurely.

At 10 months, such mice show signs of physical and cognitive decline not seen in normal types of the animal until they are two years old.

The researchers fed three or 10-month-old mice a daily dose of fisetin with their food for seven months.

Another group of the same mice were fed the food without fisetin for the same length of time.

During the study, the mice underwent various cognition and memory tests.

The researchers also examined levels of specific proteins related to brain function, stress and inflammation in the mice.

Key findings

Results revealed that mice not treated with fisetin had difficulties with all of the cognition tests, as well as showing elevated stress and inflammation.

Fisetin-treated mice experienced no safety concerns.

Those given fisetin at 10 months demonstrated similar behavior, cognitive ability and inflammation as a group of untreated three-month-old mice with the same accelerated aging.

Ms Maher said: ‘At 10 months, the differences between these two groups were striking.

‘Mice are not people, of course.

‘But there are enough similarities that we think fisetin warrants a closer look, not only for potentially treating sporadic AD but also for reducing some of the cognitive effects associated with aging, generally.’

The findings were published in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A.

Previous research has linked fisetin with reduced memory loss in mice genetically-predisposed to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Source: Daily Mail

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