Can Uridine, Choline and Omega 3 fix Alzheimer's Disease?

A new study has popped up in the media claiming that Alzheimer's disease may become a thing of the past. As usual the hype is overstated but unusually this treatment does show that maybe researchers are learner that multipronged attacks against disease can bear better fruit.

The current study centres around a supplement drink that contains uridine, choline and omega 3 fatty acid as well as some common vitamins and minerals. It was tested on 225 participants with Alzheimer's disease over 12 weeks. Those with moderate to mild Alzheimer's disease showed an improvement in short term memory recall compared to a group not taking the supplement. These results although encouraging are not exactly spectacular. So one lesson you should take away from this sort of media hype is to dig into the research yourself and don't just take everything on face value.

So why don't we "dig" a bit further to see what is really going on in this supplement. The three main components in this supplement that are attributed to its benefits are uridine, choline and omega 3. The researchers mentioned that this drink was designed to maintain membrane integrity in neurons. In that regard omega 3, uridine and choline all make up part of the cell membrane and help protect it from free radical damage. Omega 3 is also an anti-inflammatory which can also lessen the stress placed on neurons in Alzheimer's disease. Choline is a precursor to the neurotransmitter "acetylcholine" which is involved in memory funtioning. So essentially what we have in this drink is a membrane protecting, memory enhancing anti-inflammatory. Once again the medical community has triumphed at treating the symptoms and not the cause.

The real problem with Alzheimer's disease is formation of beta amyloid plaques in the presence of metal ions and reactive oxygen species. It is these three areas that should be the target of Alzheimer's disease treatment. Instead this supplement drink may improve or delay symptoms for a while but the disease will still proceed albeit more slowly. The real proof comes from the fact this did not help those with severe Alzheimer's disease. Really promising treatment should show at least some benefit in those with more advanced stages of the disease.

Despite my criticism uridine, choline and especially omega 3 are worth adding to your diet along with a number of other effective treatments in a strategy that tries to attack all stages of Alzheimer's disease. This multipronged approach is something that these doctors and researchers slowly seem to be learning.