Red wine and dark chocolate may benefit patients with Alzheimer's, research finds

• comments
• 
• 

The naturally occurring compound resveratrol found in dark chocolate and red wine may help reduce the progression of Alzheimer's disease in patients, a study finds.

A preliminary clinical trial on high doses of resveratrol found that the antioxidant may benefit patients with Alzheimer's disease. The study, published in Neurology, found that pharmaceutical-grade resveratrol can help stabilize the protein associated with the progression of the Alzheimer's disease in patients.

According to the Mirror, the resveratrol used in the study is synthetic and pharmaceutical-grade. The dose used in patients is equivalent to the amount found in 1,000 bottles of red wine.

"This is a single, small study with findings that call for further research to interpret properly," said Dr. Scott Turner, principal researcher from the Georgetown University Medical Centre. "It does appear that resveratrol was able to penetrate the blood brain barrier, which is an important observation. Resveratrol was measured in both blood and cerebrospinal fluid."

"A decrease in Abeta40 is seen as dementia worsens and Alzheimer's disease progresses; still, we can't conclude from this study that the effects of resveratrol treatment are beneficial," Dr. Turner said via Eureka Alert.

For the study, the researchers recruited nearly 120 Alzheimer's patients with mild to moderate diagnosis. Half of them were given pharmaceutical-grade resveratrol and half were given placebo capsules.

According to US News & World Report, within one year, the researchers found that the group given resveratrol had stabilized levels of protein amyloid-beta 40 in their spinal fluid. Meanwhile, the placebo group had diminished levels of it.

According to James Hendrix of Alzheimer's Association, although the findings need more research, he confirmed that the lower the amyloid-beta 40 in the spinal fluid, the more the Alzheimer's disease progress.

So this may be an indicator that resveratrol slows disease progression," Hendrix said. "But this is an early finding, and larger, longer studies are still needed."

Dr. Turner cautions that the primary findings need further study. However, their research helped them determine that resveratrol may be safe. The side effects patients taking resveratrol experienced during the study include gastrointestinal illnesses, such as nausea and diarrhea. Some of the participants also experienced weight loss, while the placebo group gained weight.

"Given safety and positive trends toward effectiveness in this phase 2 study, a larger phase 3 study is warranted to test whether resveratrol is effective for individuals with Alzheimer's -- or at risk for Alzheimer's," Turner said.

However, he added that that they're not encouraging people to take resveratrol, rather, they are focusing on the newly discovered strategy that could help cure Alzheimer's disease, reports Fox News.