Dementia-fighting breakfast drink offers little benefit, study finds
In a new study, a breakfast drink that first made a splash at an international Alzheimer’s conference in Vancouver five years ago as a memory booster has been shown to have no benefits for those with early symptoms of dementia.
The European study of the milkshake-like drink called Souvenaid (also known as Fortasyn Connect) — marketed as a prescription formula only in Europe — was the first randomized, controlled, doubleblind study of a non-pharmacological intervention in early dementia.
The latest study was based on premises in animal and earlier human studies that diet may be a protective factor in Alzheimer’s prevention and that a certain combination of nutrients could protect the brain and even enhance brain connections and functions.
But the two-year study of almost 400 subjects, published in Lancet Neurology, showed that the combination of omega 3, high doses of vitamins B, E, C, and selenium, and docosahexaenoic acid, among other ingredients, did not improve memory in the group of participants who got the drink, compared with those who drank a placebo. Indeed, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups over a two-year period.
During the study conducted in European countries (Finland, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden), 41 per cent of participants in the Souvenaid group saw their disease progress while 37 per cent in the control group experienced the same.
There were, however, hints of secondary benefits in those taking the active drink: slower brain volume shrinkage (atrophy), in particular.
In an accompanying Lancet editorial, Dr. Hussein Yassine, of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, said it may be that such dietary supplementations or other such interventions must be started earlier because as brain degeneration progresses, “the ability of preventive therapies to reverse progression to Alzheimer’s disease is attenuated.”
He said future research should involve even longer study periods and be focused on people who are at risk of Alzheimer’s disease (because of genetic mutations or strong family history) but who have no evidence of brain degeneration at the time they are enrolled in studies. Studies also need more participants, he said. In the current trial, 22 per cent of participants in the active (supplement) group dropped out and 19 per cent in the control group. None of the dropouts were attributable to the drink, which was well tolerated.
Early findings regarding the supplement that combines various nutrients, including those found in breast milk and herring, were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Vancouver in 2012.
The “medical food” was originally developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
In an interview at the time of the Vancouver conference, Dr. Philip Scheltens, a neurologist in the Netherlands who led earlier Souvenaid trials, said his research showed that mild Alzheimer’s disease patients improved on memory testing which suggested that “nutrition offers a dietary management approach” for boosting brain nerve cell connections (synapses) in those who are losing them.
Scheltens insisted it’s the particular combination and concentration of nutrients in the drink that confers benefits: “It’s not something you can just do at home by throwing together in a ( blender).”
Dr. Howard Feldman, an affiliate faculty member in the department of neurology at the University of B.C. who is dean of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerative research at the University of California (San Diego), said in an interview Monday that the latest study on Souvenaid is disappointing, especially given that there have also been no success stories with potential Alzheimer’s drugs.
Feldman said while the brain shrinkage results are intriguing, they are “still difficult to interpret without a cognitive measure moving concurrently in the right direction.”
But Feldman said the failed study will not spell the end of research into preventive dietary strategies and metabolic impairments associated with Alzheimer’s.
UBC has recently launched an early phase study using a “medium chain triglyceride intervention.” Individuals with a diagnosis of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s, aged 50 to 90, are being recruited for the study, that is exploring whether a type of dietary fat found in sources like coconut and palm oils, is safe and tolerable. Future phases of the trial will explore whether it can enhance cognition and preserve functions of daily living. Half the participants will get the liquid supplement pill and the other half a placebo.
To find out more, call study coordinator Penny Slack at 604-8226379.