Combating AD Effectively with Lipid-Based Diets

Photo: Jo Christian Oterhals/Flickr

• AD stands for 'Alzheimer's Disease'
  • A progressive, degenerative disorder
• Hippocampus, involved in the storage of long-term memory
• Scientists developed various lipid-based diets to slow AD progression and alleviate symptoms
• Experimental diets with fish oil or stigmasterol, for 3 weeks:
  • Lowered responsiveness in hippocampal of
    • Muscarinic receptors to acetylcholine
  • Increased denseness in hippocampus of:
    • Cholinergic synapses and muscarinic receptors
• Study involved young adult transgenic mouse model of AD
• Significance: Specialized diet shows promising results in halting AD
• Published in Current Alzheimer Research