A Group of Researchers of IPB Invented Cat Fish Oil Supplement to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other cognitive abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common manifestation of elderly dementia. The World Health Organization (WHO) tells us there are 47.5 million people in the world with dementia, and another 7.7 million develop the condition each year. By 2050, it is expected that there will be 135.5 million people in the world with dementia (over 2 million in the UK). So if dementia is affecting you or your loved one, you are certainly not battling alone. Dementia is a broad category of brain diseases that cause a long term and often gradual decrease in the ability to think and remember that is great enough to affect a person's daily functioning. Other common symptoms include emotional problems, problems with language, and a decrease in motivation. A person's consciousness is usually not affected. A dementia diagnosis requires a change from a person's usual mental functioning and a greater decline than one would expect due to aging. These diseases also have a significant effect on a person's caregivers. Alzheimer's disease is a condition of disorder characterized by decreased memory, decreased ability to think and speak, and changes in behaviour in patients due to disorders in the brain that are progressive or slow. As age grows, elderly will generally experience physical changes that lead to mental and cognitive health decline.
Alzheimer's disease can affect both men and women. There are three known types of Alzheimer’s disease; Early-onset Alzheimer’s, Late-onset Alzheimer’s, and Familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD). This is a form of Alzheimer’s disease that is known to be entirely inherited. In affected families, members of at least two generations have had Alzheimer’s disease. FAD is extremely rare, accounting for fewer than 1% of all cases of Alzheimer’s disease. It has a much earlier onset (often in the 40s) and can be clearly seen to run in families. While sporadic type Alzheimer is a type that is often found and attack the elderly, especially reaching the age of 65 years. Late-onset Alzheimer’s. This is the most common form of Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for about 90% of cases and usually occurring after age 65. Late-onset Alzheimer’s disease strikes almost half of all people over the age of 85 and hereditary factors may be important in some cases. Whereas early-onset Alzheimer’s. This is a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease in which people are diagnosed with the disease before the age of 65. Fewer than 10% of all Alzheimer’s disease patients have this type. Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in the elderly are difficult to recognize, so it needs to be prevented that trigger the occurrence of this disease such as hypertension or high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.
Such situation encouraged experts of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) to implement research on catfish oil (Clarias gariepinus) as an alternative supplement prevention of Alzheimer's in the elderly. They are Clara M. Kusharto and Siti Madanijah (Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Human Ecology – Fema) and Sugeng Heri Suseno (Department of Aquatic Product Technology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences – FPIK).
Sugeng said, one of the efforts to maintain the elderly health status is to maintain and improve lipid profile. Efforts to be made is to increase the consumption of unsaturated fatty acids that can maintain and improve lipid profile. The use of catfish oils containing poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and mono unsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) has a positive effect on health including cognition.
"This study aims to investigatetest the antioxidant benefits of catfish oil on the lipid profile and oxidative stress of elderly as well as antioxidant benefits of catfish oil on elderly cognitive function," he said.
The research revealed that the post-treatment of catfish oil (MIL) was able to lower total cholesterol levels compared to soybean oil (MKD) and commercial fish oil (MIK). So it can be concluded that catfish oil is beneficial in maintaining total cholesterol levels and tend to maintain the function of cognitive elderly. (Wied)
