Fish Oil Pills Might Delay Dementia in Alcohol Abusers

Omega-3 fish oil supplements might delay dementia in alcohol abusers, a new study states.

Alcohol abusers have high risk of developing dementia early due to alcohol-related neurodamage. Researchers at the Loyola University Health System said that fish oil pills could undo some of the brain damage and prevent dementia.

"Fish oil has the potential of helping preserve brain integrity in chronic alcohol abusers. At the very least, it is unlikely that it would hurt them," said Michael A. Collins of the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

The study doesn't, however, indicate that it is okay to drink large quantities of alcohol and use fish oil supplements.

Researchers said that the best way to prevent alcohol-related brain damage is to drink low-to-moderate amount of alcohol. Moderate drinking is a maximum of two drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women.

"We don't want people to think it is okay to take a few fish oil capsules and then continue to go on abusing alcohol," Collins said in a news release.

For the study, Collins and colleagues exposed brain cells of adult rats to alcohol. The team then compared the changes in these brain cells with that of another brain culture that was exposed to alcohol plus omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid.

Researchers found that the brain cells exposed to fish oil plus alcohol had 90 percent less inflammation than other brain cells.
Earlier research by Collins and colleagues had found that moderate drinking might slow down dementia. This study was based on data from 75 research papers.

Researchers said that moderate amount of alcohol might be good for the brain, but drinking too much of it could lead to neuroinflammation and even cell death.

The study is published in the journal PLOS One and was earlier presented at the 14th Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism in Warsaw.