Rode wijn tegen dementie.*
Uit een wetenschappelijk onderzoek met muizen blijkt dat althans bij muizen die elke dag rode wijn krijgen de ziekte van Alzheimer vertraagt, minder hersencellen dood gaan en het geheugen duidelijk minder snel achter uitgaat. Vergelijkbaar met mensen is de hoeveelheid die bij het onderzoek gebruikt werd 2 glazen per dag. Dit onderzoek bevestigt eerdere onderzoeken die ook al dezelfde resultaten lieten zien.
Two
glasses of red wine a day may prevent Alzheimer's
According
to a new study those couple of glasses red wine each day may be enjoyable but
might also help prevent Alzheimer's disease.
It
seems that when mice with an Alzheimer's-like disease were given the equivalent
of a couple of glasses of red wine a day, it slowed down their memory loss and
brain cell death.
Compared
to mice that received ethanol or water, the mice that were given Cabernet
Sauvignon experienced significantly reduced Alzheimer's disease-type brain
deterioration of memory function.
The
researchers, from Mount
Sinai School of Medicine
in New York City, found Cabernet Sauvignon's benefits were due to its ability to
prevent the generation of proteins that cause plaque build-up in the brain,
which is the main cause of Alzheimer's disease.
The
researchers calculated the animals' wine intake to match the US Department of
Agriculture's definition of moderate wine consumption, a single 5-ounce glass
daily for women and two glasses for men.
Dr.
Giulio Maria Pasinetti says moderate consumption is the key as excessive
drinking carries a number of health risks, including alcohol dependence and
liver damage.
The
findings back up epidemiological research linking moderate alcohol consumption
to a lower dementia risk, say the researchers.
For
the research the team gave the mice, on a random basis, Cabernet Sauvignon or
ethanol in their drinking water for seven months while another group of mice
drank plain water.
All
of the animals had a genetic defect that caused them to develop the type of
damage that occurs in humans with Alzheimer's disease.
The
animals' memories were then tested by putting them through a series of mazes,
after the animals had been alcohol-free for three days.
The
researchers found that the wine-drinking mice learned how to escape from the
maze significantly faster than those drinking alcohol-spiked water or water only.
Pasinetti
says that based on their findings and given that moderate wine consumption may
protect the heart, older people in good health who don't have the metabolic
syndrome, high blood pressure, liver problems, issues with alcohol dependence or
other reasons to avoid alcohol, can choose to drink red wine moderately as part
of a healthy lifestyle. The research will be presented on Oct 14-18 at the
Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, in Atlanta and published in the FASEB
Journal, November 2006.
(Okt. 2006)