3. Folic acid possibly a key factor in preventing Alzheimer's disease.  March 1, 2002  A study published in the March 1 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience

This study used transgenic mice as Alzheimer's models to test out the effects of folate deficiencies in the diet.  Mouse experiments do not always correlate 100 % with the human experience, but they do have a very high correlation coefficient.  They provide a useful method to run controlled experiments and point out possible directions for research to go.  The advantage is that mice live 2-3 years, can be totally controlled, are expendable and scientists can view the effects of various tests run in a short time.  Humans live 70 - 80 years, it is difficult to control their life variables and you can only count brain cells in an autopsy, if the family permits.  Thus mouse tests are often run to test out aging factors.

According to scientists at the National Institute on Aging, mouse experiments suggest that folates in the form of folic acid could play an essential role in protecting the brain against the ravages of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

In the study, published in the March 1, 2002 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, the investigators fed one group of mice, with Alzheimer's-like plaques in their brains, a diet that included normal amounts of folate, while a second group was fed a diet deficient in this vitamin.  The mice used were transgenic, meaning they were bred with mutant genes that cause AD in people. They develop AD-like plaques in their brains that kill neurons.

The NIA team counted neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and memory, that is destroyed as plaques accumulate during Alzheimer's disease. The investigators found a decreased number of neurons in the mice fed the folic acid deficient diet. The scientists also discovered that mice with low amounts of dietary folic acid had elevated levels of homocysteine in the blood and brain. They suspect that increased levels of homocysteine in the brain caused damage to the DNA of nerve cells in the hippocampus. In transgenic mice fed an adequate amount of folate, nerve cells in this brain region were able to repair damage to their DNA. But in the transgenic mice fed a folate-deficient diet, nerve cells were unable to repair this DNA damage.

"These new findings establish a possible cause-effect relationship between elevated homocysteine levels and degeneration of nerve cells involved in learning and memory in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease," said Mark Mattson, Ph.D., chief of the NIA's Laboratory of Neurosciences and the study's principal investigator.

People who have Alzheimer's disease often have low levels of folic acid in their blood, but it is not clear whether this is a cause of or a result of the disease or if they are simply malnourished due to their illness. Based on emerging research, Dr. Mattson speculates that consuming adequate amounts of folic acid - either in the diet or by supplementation - could be beneficial to the aging brain and help protect it against Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. Green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits and juices, whole wheat bread and dry beans are good sources of the vitamin.(5) And it is very cheap and easy to supplement.

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