A study reveals that green tea could prevent dementia.
In laboratory research, catechins present in the herbal beverage reduced plaques strongly linked to Alzheimer’s.
Resveratrol, which is found in blueberries, grapes, and red wine, has a comparable effect on human brain cells.
Catechins and resveratrol have anti-inflammatory characteristics, which may account for their ability to remove plaque.
Researchers from Tufts University published their findings in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent form of dementia, affecting over six million Americans.
It is characterized by a lack of communication between neurons in the brain, which leads to the loss of function and the death of cells.
In Alzheimer’s disease-affected brains, aberrant quantities of normally occurring proteins build plaques that gather between neurons and impede cell function.
However, catechins and resveratrol were efficient at preventing plaque formation in these neuronal cells. They did it with minimal to no adverse consequences.
Curcumin from turmeric, the diabetes medicine Metformin, and a molecule called citicoline were among the other substances that inhibited plaque formation.
In a 3D neural tissue model comprised of a nonreactive silk sponge seeded with human skin cells that had been genetically reprogrammed into self-renewing neural stem cells, the researchers evaluated the efficacy of 21 chemicals.
Dr. Dana Cairns, a research associate at the Tufts School of Engineering and the study’s leader, remarked, ‘We lucked out in that a few of these exhibited quite robust efficacy.
In the case of these compounds that passed the screening, there were almost no visible plaques after approximately one week.
The findings of the research team, which indicate the anti-plaque characteristics of commonly occurring chemicals, have the potential to assist millions of people and build on years of research into their therapeutic effects.
Green tea and berries are high in flavonoids, which can minimize cell-damaging free radicals, reduce brain inflammation, and increase cerebral blood flow.
The findings of the Tufts researchers do not provide solid evidence that the neuroprotective capabilities of the 21 substances investigated will slow the course of dementia.
Some of the investigated chemicals, for example, are not readily absorbed into the body or bloodstream.
And certain substances were unable to cross the blood-brain barrier, a barrier between the blood vessels of the brain and the cells and other components that comprise brain tissue.
The function of the blood-brain barrier is to prevent brain infections caused by circulating toxins or pathogens.
According to Dr. Cairns, additional research into the adaptability of these chemicals to better penetrate the bloodstream and blood-brain barrier is required.
However, the findings of her team are crucial because there is presently no cure for Alzheimer’s disease and few treatments to slow the illness’s course.
Alzheimer’s disease is not the only cause of dementia, which affects over 7 million individuals in the United States. Other reasons include Parkinson’s disease and vascular dementia, which are caused by disorders that restrict or obstruct blood flow to specific brain regions.
