Just One Seafood Meal Per Week Linked To Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Martha Clare Morris ScD Section on Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology Department of Internal Medicine Rush University Medical Center Chicago, Illinois

Dr. Martha Morris

Dr. Martha Clare Morris ScD
Section on Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology
Department of Internal Medicine
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, Illinois

Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Dr. Morris: We examined seafood consumption in a cohort of older residents of the city of Chicago and related their diets to neuropathologies associated with dementia in 286 brains of the participants when they died.  We also examined the brain tissue for mercury levels.  We found that seafood consumption of 1 or more per week was associated with less Alzheimer disease neuropathologies.  Higher seafood consumption was also associated with more mercury levels in the brain but increased mercury levels were not associated with Alzheimer’s Disease or other brain neuropathologies.

Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Morris: This study supports previous investigations showing that just one seafood meal per week is associated with less risk of Alzheimer’s Disease dementia.  The current study also allays concerns that the possibility of increased consumption of mercury from moderate seafood consumption will be harmful.

Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Morris: Future research should examine other potential harmful effects of mercury exposure to the brain- for example, effects on synaptic proteins or neurons in the brain

Citation:

Morris M, Brockman J, Schneider JA, et al. Association of Seafood Consumption, Brain Mercury Level, and APOE ε4 Status With Brain Neuropathology in Older Adults.JAMA. 2016;315(5):489-497. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.19451.

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Dr. Martha Clare Morris ScD (2016). Just One Seafood Meal Per Week Linked To Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease 

Last Updated on February 8, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD