US-American scientists from the Medical University of South Carolina have found in recent studies on mice that when the animals were given special lipids, inflammation in the brain was reduced, which would otherwise have resulted in memory loss. For this reason, the researchers also assume that people with an increased risk of dementia diseases such as Alzheimer’s can also be treated with these so-called lipid mediators, which can reduce inflammation in the body and brain because dementia and Alzheimer’s patients seem to be predestined for these diseases due to inflammation in the brain. Inflammations in the brain then influence the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. According to the researchers, treatment options, as well as timely preventive measures, appear to be specialised lipids, so-called resolvins, which could stop memory loss. Resolvins are produced in the human body from omega-3 fatty acids, which are mainly found in fish oil like salmon. They have an anti-inflammatory effect. The causes of these diseases are still not known in detail, but injuries, pathogens and ageing in the development process of dementia diseases also play an important role, because impairment of the self-healing powers of the brain is also negatively influenced by them. People with Down’s syndrome also tend to have premature inflammation of their brain. A similar connection is therefore also associated with trisomy 21. If the body is no longer able to eliminate inflammation, for example, due to the natural ageing process, progressive damage to the brain threatens to result in memory loss through certain key mechanisms, which according to current research need to be identified. Damage and ageing processes appear to have a major influence on the development and extent of the disease. Resolvins, on the other hand, appears to have a protective effect.
