DAILY DRINK TO BEAT DEMENTIA

£ 3.50 vitamin cocktail stops memory loss

A DAILY vitamin drink could improve memory and slow the progression of early Alzheimer’s disease, scientists said yesterday.

Breakthrough research from a Europeanwide study has shown that the nutritional drink, costing £ 3.50 for a daily dose, can preserve the brain cells that Alzheimer’s disease patients lose quickly.

It also helps preserve memory as well as the ability to think and perform everyday tasks such as paying bills.

Experts say the drink, called Souvenaid, represents a real step forward as it is the first clinically proven treatment which can be given to patients with mild memory problems who are at risk of developing full- blown Alzheimer’s.

Results of the two- year LipiDiDiet clinical

trial, presented at the Advances in Alzheimer’s Therapy congress in Athens yesterday, involved more than 311 people between the ages of 55 and 85 with prodromal Alzheimer’s disease – memory problems that are not severe enough to be diagnosed as dementia.

Half of the volunteers were given the drink which contains a combination of fatty acids, B vitamins and other nutrients and the other half were given a drink with an equal calorie content but without the nutrients.

Volunteers had their brains scanned throughout the study and those who took the supplement had 38.7 per cent less brain shrinkage, particularly in the hippocampal area, the part of the brain that helps store short- term memories, than those who did not.

Although Souvenaid is licensed for use in the UK as a “food for special medical purposes”, it is not available on prescription.

It can be bought over the counter in pharmacies.

The project’s coordinator Tobias Hartmann, of Saarland University in Germany, said: “This is exciting because it shows that in the absence of effective drug options, we really have found something that can help slow down some of the most distressing symptoms in prodromal Alzheimer’s – especially in those who started the intervention early.

“Indeed those patients who have lost the least cognitive function, have most to gain.”

UK experts who attended the congress backed the findings.

Craig Ritchie, professor of the Psychiatry of Ageing at University of Edinburgh, said: “What is particularly interesting about the study findings is the fact that providing this specific com- bination of nutrients to nerve cells results in less brain shrinkage in prodromal patients.

“There are brain changes in people who develop Alzheimer’s dementia, years and sometimes decades before people start noticing symptoms.

“The results of this study are supportive of the possibility that interventions may have an impact on the pre- clinical disease.”

Professor Peter Passmore, of Queen’s University Belfast, said: “Today’s news is very encouraging because now we have something that we know is safe and effective in helping to conserve the brains of people likely to progress to Alzheimer’s.”

Dr James Pickett, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘ People worried about their memory should visit their GP for advice. If early Alzheimer’s disease is suspected, this supplement is one option.”

Around 850,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia and this figure is set to soar to two million by 2051.

Treating dementia currently costs the UK economy more than £ 26billion a year.