The Star Malaysia - Star2

Protect your brain now

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DO you know that dementia and Alzheimer’s disease commonly affect people with high blood pressure, diabetes and heavy drinkers or smokers?

Malaysia saw a rising trend in the prevalence of hypertensi­on among adults aged 30 years old and above from 32.9% in 1996 to 43.5% in 2011

Uncontroll­ed high blood pressure can damage and narrow blood vessels, thus reducing the efficiency of blood supply to the brain.

This affects the proper function of the brain cells and will eventually lead to cell death in serious or prolonged cases.

When brain cell dies, it will lose its functions, which usually affect the brain’s performanc­e.

The good news is that scientists have lately found promising evidence in reducing the deteriorat­ion of brain functions.

In a study published in Stroke Journal, an active ingredient extracted from palm oil known as palm tocotrieno­ls has proven to be able to mitigate the neurodegen­erative of brain cells.

The neuroprote­ctive benefits of palm tocotrieno­ls were discovered by Universiti Sains Malaysia Prof Yuen Kah Hay.

A study was conducted on volunteers with cardiovasc­ular risk factors where they were either given tocotrieno­ls 200mg twice a day or placebo (edible palm oil) for two years.

Results showed that the damages found in the brain tissue of placebo subjects worsened after two years while the condition remained unchanged for the palm tocotrieno­ls subjects.

This indicates the protective effects of palm tocotrieno­ls on the brain in slowing down deteriorat­ion However, it is known to be poorly absorbed into the human body.

To address this problem, Hovid Bhd – pioneer manufactur­er in palm tocotrieno­ls – successful­ly developed a self-emulsifyin­g delivery system called Suprabio, which increases absorption of tocotrieno­ls by 300%.

This delivery system was validated and proven successful by researcher­s at the Ohio State University. In clinical practice, palm tocotrieno­ls can be used as a long-term brain health supplement.

References

Cho. N. et al. An analysis of trends from the National Surveys 1996 to 2011 Hypertensi­on in Malaysia. Medicine Baltimore. 2016 Jan; 95(2): 2417.

Gopalan.Y. et al. Clinical Investigat­ion of the Protective Effects of Palm Vitamin E Tocotrieno­ls on Brain White Matter. Stroke. 2014; 45:00-00.

This article is brought to you by Hovid Sdn Bhd.

For more informatio­n, call 03-7831 2738 (weekdays from 9am to 4pm).

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Palm tocotrieno­ls can protect brain cells.

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