Omega-3 may help some with Alzheimer's

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 22 (UPI) -- Omega-3 supplements can, in certain cases, help combat the depression and agitation associated with Alzheimer's disease, a Swedish study found.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden, divided 200 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease into two groups -- one group received omega-3 and one group got a placebo.

There was no observable difference in therapeutic effect between the patients receiving the omega-3 and the placebo group.

However, when the researchers took into account which of the patients carried gene APOE4, a gene on chromosome 19 which has been linked to late-onset Alzheimer's disease, and which did not, an appreciable difference appeared.

Those in the study who carried the gene responded positively to the omega-3 as regards agitation symptoms, while non-bearers of the gene showed an improvement in depressive symptoms, according to the study published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

The researchers stress that no general therapeutic recommendations can be made from the results until larger studies on individuals with more pronounced neuropsychiatric symptoms are conducted.