Red wine and dark chocolate may benefit patients with Alzheimer’s, research finds

Scientists are expecting a low-priced supplement to stop the progress of Alzheimer’s disease after a trial showed that deterioration in patients stopped while they took it. Resveratrol, a compound that occurs naturally, is found in raspberries, red grapes, dark chocolate and red wine.

The group was then divided into two, with one acting as the placebo.

A compound found in wine and dark chocolate shows promise in slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast, the participants who received the placebo experienced a decline in their Abeta40 levels over the 12 months of the trial.

“A decrease in Abeta40 is seen as dementia worsens and Alzheimer’s disease progresses; still, we can not conclude from this study that the effects of resveratrol treatment are beneficial”, Turner explained. Stressing that “there is no evidence” that such a thing is possible, the charity says that the study on which these reports are based “was far too small to draw any conclusions”.

However, it does appear that resveratrol was able to penetrate the blood brain barrier, which is an important observation, Turner said.

The new study is published online today (Sept. 11) in the journal Neurology.

“If we found more potent drugs that are maybe more bioavailable, maybe that would be a preferred strategy that could be pursued by drug companies”, he said. Turner, who treats patients at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, cautions that the findings can not be used to recommend resveratrol.

The Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland said that the study’s results are alarming, but the researchers should be careful before revealing any results. Researchers think that resveratrol activates proteins called sirtuins, which are also activated by calorie restriction, and may have anti-aging effects.

Researchers at 21 different medical centers all over the USA peered into the safety and effectiveness of taking high doses of resveratrol, which have been crammed into an experimental pill.

Diana, whose twin sister died from the same disease, says there are multiple reasons she and John decided to participate in the resveratrol study, and they now know he was assigned to take the active drug.

The main goal of the current study, which included 119 patients, was to find out whether high doses of resveratrol could be safe.

It was found that patients taking the placebo showed reduced levels of Abeta40 and did not show any improvement in cognitive tests.

The study, funded by the National Institute on Aging and conducted with the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study, began in 2012 and ended in 2014.

The most common side effects of resveratrol were nausea and diarrhea. “A similar decrease in brain volume was found with some anti-amyloid immunotherapy trials”, Turner adds.

Furthermore, other hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, such as tau protein, were not found in any of the cases.

The current study used high doses of resveratrol to increase the chances that enough of the compound got into the brain to have an effect. He said the next step would be to move to a Phase 3 trial.