In a recent study, scientists discovered that a chemical which is found in red wine may help preventing or slowing down dementia. But there’s a catch, you would have to drink up to one thousand wine bottles on a daily basis to notice any difference.
The name of the chemical is resveratrol and it can be found in red grapes. Researchers studied its effect on people with mild Alzheimer’s disease. The drug, which can also be found in dark chocolate, raspberries and peanuts, is thought to bring positive results by helping patients remember how to complete day to day actions, such as cooking or how to use their telephone.
Resveratrol also helped stopping the amount of amyloid beta 40 proteins that falls in the blood and spinal fluids of the sufferers. This key protein is more commonly known as “biomarker”, and it is one of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. The disease’s magnitude was kept study for the study participants who took resveratrol during the clinical tests. This suggests that the chemical may have a positive impact on the underlying processes that are known for causing dementia.
The study spanned a period of one year, in which a synthetic version of resveratrol was given to 120 participants. The initiative came from Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC.
Some patients were given higher doses of resveratrol, of about one gram, twice a day, which is the amount contained in one thousand bottles of wine.
Researchers have developed four cognitive tests in order to document the drug’s effect. They have found a significant improvement in the patients who took the chemical in higher doses. The tests were conceived to measure the day to day capabilities of Alzheimer’s disease patients, and it looked at how they coped with household chores.
The results of the tests were published online in the journal Neurology. The statistics and conclusion fascinated a large number of researchers. While the results are positive, lead author of the study, Dr. R. Scott Turner declared that the findings can not be considered conclusive until they will be applied in non-scientific settings.
As any new study, it needs “further research.” Dr. Turner adds that this study was too small to create any kind of shockwave in the pharmaceutical industry. He adds that “We can’t conclude from this study that the effects of resveratrol treatment are beneficial.” But at least the study proved that resveratrol is well tolerated by the human physique.
Participants who took higher doses of resveratrol experienced just a few side-effects, including the common nausea, weight loss, and diarrhea.
Photo Credits flickr
