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Eating Fish Once a Week May Ward Off Alzheimer's BY ANGELA STEWART STAR-LEDGER STAFF Eating fish at least once a week may cut an older person's risk of getting Alzheimer's disease by more than half, a study released yesterday suggests. Researchers studied 815 Chicago nursing home residents 65 and older. None of them had Alzheimer's at the outset of the study, but four years later, 131 study participants had developed the degenerative brain disease that affects 4 million Americans. The study examined the residents' answers on a dietary questionnaire completed an average of 2.3 years before they were evaluated for Alzheimer's. Study participants who reported eating fish at least once a week had a 60 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's compared with those who reported rarely or never eating fish. The meals they consumed included tuna sandwiches, fish sticks, fish cakes and shellfish, although the amounts were not specified. "Right now, we have few established identifiable or preventive risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, so the fact that we observed this association is very promising because there is something people can do to prevent the disease," said Martha Glare Morris, an epidemiologist and the lead researcher from Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. She admitted, however, that a more direct correlation between fish and Alzheimer's would be established in a clinical trial that would start by segregating people who ate fish from those who did not. "The findings need to be replicated in other studies," she said. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study appears in the July issue of the Archives of Neurology. It adds to the growing body of evidence that diet may affect a person's chances of developing Alzheimer's, although the researchers did not address the question of what age one would need to start eating fish to derive the protective benefit. Artiss Powell, an Alzheimer's expert at the` UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, called the study's findings reasonable. "There are certain fats associated with fish that are protective against circulation problems, so there is reason to believe that would follow through in terms of protection against Alzheimer's disease," said Powell, an associate professor in the Department of Neurology. The American Heart Association's dietary guidelines now recommend two servings of fish rich in omega-3 acids per week The fish include mackerel lake trout, bluefish, salmon and albacore tuna. "We serve fish weekly, mainly on Fridays. Our residents enjoy it," said Denise Daire, the registered dietitian at the Summit Ridge nursing home in West Orange. Morris and her colleagues specifically found fish to be rich in an omega-3 fatty acid called Docasahexaenoic, or DHA, believed to be important for brain development. Studies have shown that animals fed the fatty acids had better learning abilities and memory. "From early childhood, the DHA plays a very important role in brain tissue," said Mukund Karwe, an associate professor of food engineering in the Department of Food Science at Cook College in New Brunswick. In the study, some participants also saw a decreased risk of Alzheimer's from eating omega-3 fatty acids found in vegetables and nuts. Martin Gizzi chairman of the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center in Edison, said he can see a protective benefit of these fatty acids because they are needed to help build the membranes connecting one brain cell to the next. The human body cannot make these acids; they only come from food. In an editorial accompanying the fish study, Robert P. Friedland of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland suggests that a high antioxidant/ low saturated fat diet -- including a greater amount of fish, chicken, fruits and vegetables and less red meat and dairy products -- is a more complete prescription for lowering the risk of Alzheimer's, as well as other diseases. He also warned of toxins such as mercury tainting some fish. "There's more to brain health than just omega-3s. We need to look at the total diet," agreed Jo Ann Hattner, a clinical nutritionist with the American Dietetic Association. Bill Thies, vice president of medical and scientific affairs at the Alzheimer's Association, would only label the study "an interesting suggestion." "It's not definitive proof. It points in the direction of benefits," he told the Associated Press. As consumers become more aware of the health benefits of eating fish, the demand for it is growing. The average American consumes about 14.8 pounds of fish per year, with Americans collective spending an estimated $55.3 billion on fishery products, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. "We can generally sell all the fish we catch. Oversupply tends not to be a problem in the fishing business these days," added Nils Stolpe, a spokesman for the Garden State Seafood Association. At the East Brunswick Fish Market, owner Matthew Terranova said he is seeing people of all ages becoming more conscious of including fish in their diets. "We sell quite a bit of salmon, especially," he said.