A chemical found in red wine helps slow dementia, say scientists - but you would have to drink 1,000 bottles a day to get enough of it. Photo / iStock.
A chemical found in red wine helps slow dementia, say scientists - but you would have to drink 1,000 bottles a day to get enough of it.
Researchers studied the effect of resveratrol, found in red grapes, on people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's.
They said the drug - also
seen in raspberries, dark chocolate and peanuts - "may have some positive effects" on helping patients complete day-to-day tasks, such as "using the telephone and cooking at home".
The chemical was also found to stop the levels of key protein amyloid beta 40, known as a "biomarker", falling in the blood and spinal fluid of Alzheimer's sufferers. Levels of the biomarker usually fall as the disease progresses, but the levels of those who took resveratrol in the clinical trial remained steady - suggesting the drug may affect the underlying process that causes Alzheimer's.
In the year-long study by Georgetown University Medical Centre in Washington DC, pure synthetic resveratrol was given to some of the 119 participants.
